Zetsubou no Riddle
by Molinebar2
Summary: After receiving letters from the Kibougamine Academy, Haruki finally believes she can attend a normal school- only to find that the only way to graduate is to kill another student and get away with it. With the rest of Class Black attending as well, things prove to be more abnormal than she could have ever imagined. (Light pairings, character death, violence)
1. Chapter 01

**Chapter 01: Welcome to Despair High School Part I**

* * *

One year after the events of Class Black, when Haruki received a letter from the so-called Kibougamine Academy that day, she thought she was being given the chance to attend a regular school for once.

It turned out that this assumption was horribly wrong.

* * *

**Day 01**

Standing in front of the large gates wearing her usual lopsided smile, the red head shaded her eyes from the glistening sun above, acceptance letter in hand. It was said that this particular academy accommodated students from all ages- even adults, which included this particular 19 year old- but even so, it looked quite large. With buildings larger than she had seen before, and in numbers greater than she could count on two hands, to say it was impressive was an understatement.

'I wonder why or how in the world I was chosen to attend a sweet place like this. Like, seriously. I'm just a regular construction worker.. You're supposed to have a talent or something to enter this place, but it's not like I have a talent for building or anything. Meh. Who am I to complain?' In fear that maybe others could overhear her cheery voice, she kept her thoughts to herself, smile still occupying her face. 'Maybe I can bring the rest of my siblings to this academy instead, if I can afford it..'

Little did she know, that was the last thing she should have been considering.

As soon as she walked through the grand gates and stepped into what seemed to be the main hall of the building however, she could only sense the mess to come. The sound of her light feet hitting the tiled ground was the last thing to reach her ears before the world around her spun uncontrollably, colours becoming nothing but a whiz and blur around her as she tumbled to the ground with a thud. The last thing on the girl's mind was a curse, before everything suddenly faded to black.

. . .

Haruki twitched. The world around her was still black when she felt her consciousness returning to her, along with a light buzzing in her ear. '..w..wh..what.. where.. am I..?' She felt terrible for realising a little late, but peered her eyes open as soon as she realised she was seeing black because they were closed.

Still, the sight of the room around her didn't help her growing confusion in the slightest. Now with more perspective and a collected mind, the girl noticed her head was flat on a desk- a desk that quite resembled the rows of school desks in the empty room. The world was still sideways from the way it rested on it's surface. 'W-Wait, if this is a desk, could I be.. inside the school?'

As soon as the realisation reached her, Sagae grit her teeth together, waking her body up and forcing herself to sit up in the chair she found herself seated in. It wasn't the most comfortable chair, she duly noted to herself. Even with such a ridiculous thought in her head, the confusion and fear welling up inside her body didn't die down. If anything, the sight of being in what seemed like a classroom amplified the sickening feelings.

With the longer the red head scanned the room, the more the emotions uneasily swirled in her stomach. Eyebrows scrunching in worry, she felt a sweat drop fall slide her forehead, especially at the sight of the walls that bordered the room. She wouldn't have minded if they had creepy crayon drawings on them or maybe have been bare, but it seemed like luck wasn't on her side.

They were made of metal, bolted down securely, almost resembling a prison cell. The only problem was, it contrasted with the otherwise peaceful atmosphere of the classroom, and added a dreading aura to it all.

Feeling a chill run down her spine along with a sudden surge of energy, the young adult frowned, shooting up from her seat. The more she looked around the quiet room, the more frustration began to reach her as well, and she found herself slamming a fist into the desk before her.

"Dammit, where the hell am I..?" With a sigh, she tried cooling down from her sudden outburst, but to no avail. The sound of her own voice being rougher than usual only caused her body to shake in unease. She hated to admit it, but she was beginning to even grow scared.

'I walked.. into the school hall, didn't I..? Before coming here, that is.. I just.. blacked out.. right..?' Even when she tried recalling the previous events though, she had no idea why she was in the middle of a classroom, or even why she was unconscious to begin with.

The thought of it alone reminded her of a certain bossy female she had met a year ago who happened to fall asleep in every class.

This was shaken away with a turn of her head and forgotten completely, gaze aimed right at the open doorway. It was wide open, strangely enough, and even if it was deemed as quite suspicious, it wasn't like there was any other place to go.

Haruki barely happened to notice how there was a lack of Pocky in her mouth or pocket when she stormed from the classroom, looking about wearily as she still trembled- all while she missed the single piece of paper on the floor beside her desk.

. . .

By the time the girl felt her legs finally stop shaking and her head clear of any unnecessary worries, she stood in front of a set of double doors. 'The letter said to assemble in the entrance hall.. and well, this sign says it's the entrance hall, so.. I've got nowhere else to go... right, I've gotta be strong for once. You can do this Haruki, just walk in, and..'

When she opened the doors and hesitantly walked into the hall however, all she could do was stand in the doorway and blink.

"What the.. oh, look who finally decided to join us." A familiar voice rang out.

"You're right! It looks like everyone's finally here then."

"Sagae too? Great.. what have we gotten ourselves into now? I want to go back home already." Hell, with the more the feminine voices murmured amongst themselves, the more Haruki found herself staring in awe and recognition.

"..y-you guys.. what are you doing here..?" were the words that spilled from the red head's mouth as she walked further into the hall, ignoring the doors slamming behind her as she approached the crowded group of females before her. All thoughts of fear and worry were lost as she scanned over the familiar faces, finding her signature smile return and her heart ease.

Assembled right before her in the entrance hall was Class Black- every assassin, including Haru was present, all of them looking exactly the same as they did a year earlier. Sure, Haruki wasn't fond of seeing some of them again, but it was better than being alone or with strangers- she would have deemed it fortunate even, but something about it seemed suspicious. It seemed as if someone behind the scenes had assembled them all again on purpose.

"You think we know? We're probably in the same situation as you, Sagae." Hearing the cold, mature voice, the older didn't even need to look up to recognise it as the one and only Azuma Tokaku. Wearing a frown and crossed arms, it seemed she didn't glance up either. Rubbing the back of her neck as she often did when she was nervous, the red head gave a laugh.

Before she could reply though, it seemed another intervened first, beginning the chain of questions that never seemed to stop. "Oh, did you get that letter from the Kibougamine Academy too, Sagae? Did everything go black when you walked into the hall? Did you get knocked out? And wake up in a random classroom? Did you? That's what happened to all of us.~" Blinking, it took a moment for the girl to process Nio's ranting.

"Okay, okay, slow down." she began, overwhelmed by the situation of it all. "..I got the letter from this school, showed up today, walked in, blacked out and woke up in a classroom which made me end up here. If that's what you were asking, then yes?"

"Exactly what I was asking. You should listen sometimes, you know.~ Oh, speaking of listening, since everyone's here, we should head to the gym!" The blonde cheered back, with her usual kitty face. Letting out a sigh, Sagae obediently nodded her head, ignoring the stares of everyone coming her way.

"Yeah, yeah, I know." she waved off, before blinking. "Wait, what ? Gym? Why the gym?" she suddenly questioned. Nio just sneered back, giving a creepy, breathy snicker.

"You were away for this part, but there was an announcement earlier. You're lucky you didn't have to hear it, in a way.." she began explaining, holding her arms out as she spoke. "But now that we're present, we have to head to the gym for our opening ceremony."

Though a wave of worry began to gnaw at her mind again, the redhead didn't let it show as she nodded in understanding. "Right.." That didn't stop her from being sceptical about it all. "..you're really going to trust that random announcement?"

It seemed her question went unnoticed by the blonde other- or really, by any one at all, since they were all already following Nio's lead as she announced something of her own. "Alright, I say we should head there now then!"

Apparently, her spotlight abruptly ended as soon as the conversation did. Most of the females turned to those around them to chat once more as they filed out of the hall. They rarely even sent glances Sagae's way, practically forgetting her existence completely already.

With a sigh, Haruki could do nothing but comply, not wanting to be left behind of all things. She was just beginning to calm down, and being left alone would toss out of her progress out of the window. Dragging her heels along the ground in her usual fashion, she followed behind the majority of the girls, looking about with an unnoticed, worried glance.

. . .

It wasn't long before they reached the gym, and everyone assembled there instead. Even after minutes of waiting and chatting passed, nothing else seemed to happen- which, finally began to calm Sagae's nerves somewhat. The school was creepy enough as it was with weird, coloured lights and overly large rooms, so it was nice to have something calming for once.

Everyone was talking amongst themselves, seeming to be quite content in their own little groups of friends and whatnot. What was really disappointing though was that they all seemed to ignore Haruki, no one bothering to approach her after their first re-encounter.

That is, with the exception of one person.

"Strange, isn't it?" the girl's formal voice rang out, immediately gaining Haruki's attention with it's smooth tone. Lifting an eyebrow, she tilted her head at the orange-haired girl speaking to her.

"Hm? Strange..? What, you mean this whole situation?" the redhead calmly responded, placing a hand on her hip.

"Well, what else would I be talking about?" she sharply spoke, with a hint of frustration in her voice. "I'm surprised we could all pass with talents that qualified with the school's policy though. Especially someone like you, Sagae-san."

For some reason, at the words she received, the events from earlier on replayed in her mind. Memories of exactly how frightened and irrational she had been just moments earlier, in comparison with how comfortable she suddenly felt. Dismissing the thoughts as a mere overreaction, the girl decided to play along, returning to a more carefree attitude.

Grasping her heart in a dramatic matter, her eyebrows arched in hurt. "Ouch. That was a blow to my self-esteem, Hanabusa-san.." she complained, putting on a comical pout at the clearly amused other. Covering her mouth with her mechanical, skin coloured hand, she let out a small giggle, shaking her head.

"Not a blow, just getting it down where it belongs." she harshly commented. Haruki didn't know why this queen was talking to her in the first place, but if she wanted to continue conversing, she was going to have to stop picking on her first.

"Aw. That doesn't make me feel much better either." she whined. Letting out a chuckle of her own, the girl soon dropped the act, putting a faint smile back on her face where it belonged. "But in all seriousness, what is going on..?"

Almost as if she had to think about it for a moment, Sumireko paused, lifting her eyes to the high ceiling as she sat in silence. "Hasn't it been stated to you already that none of us know..?"

Shoulders falling at the disappointing response she received, Haruki sighed, smile faltering for a moment. "W-Well yeah, but I was just asking.. in case you knew anything.. I mean, you never know. I'm just trying to wrap my head around things." she explained, trying to seem intelligent to some extent. She knew that there wasn't a point though, because in Sumireko's mind, she was probably just some filthy peasant. "Where are we, anyway? Can I know that much?"

"Kibougamine Academy, we presume. No where else it could be." she bluntly replied, still seeming as posh and upper-class as usual, even without her furniture or flowers. For a moment, the redhead swore the other was still sparkling in her stance.

"Um. Okay then." For a moment, the older girl frowned, pondering for a minute or so in silence. She could feel the intimidating and sophisticated gaze of the orange-haired cyborg on her which didn't help her slow thinking pace, but it couldn't be helped. "..so.. has it even occurred to anyone that we might've been kidnapped?" she pointed out, as the seriousness of the situation finally came to light.

Sumireko surveyed the group and hall for a few moments as she hummed to herself in thought, tapping her fingers against her cheeks and chin. It wasn't long before her hand suddenly pointed at the scattered group, and her soft voice spoke up once again. "Yes, actually. You're a little slow there; even Mahiru-san's thought of that by now.."

"Ouch. You really know how to hurt people, Hanabusa-san." she joked with a pout, looking in the direction of the pointing finger. It led her yellow orbs to the crouching figure of Mahiru, who looked like she was quivering and panicking in the corner of the hall. Otoya seemed to be accompanying her, but from the looks of things, her bickering and ranting wasn't helping calm the white-haired girl down.

Sagae was about to open her mouth to speak once more, when she was interrupted by a voice blaring from the high speakers above. Since they were hidden by the many banners and metal poles running across the roof, the girl didn't even notice they were there until the incredibly deformed and rough voice pierced her ears.

_"Hey, have we got everyone? In that case, let's get started!"_

The girls had no idea what they were in for.

* * *

**A/N: Hey, welcome to the first chapter of this strange cross-over I decided to write. Don't mind me~**

**I'll try to keep these notes as brief as possible, so for now, I'll hopefully see more of you in the next chapter.**


	2. Chapter 02

**Chapter 02: Welcome to Despair High School Part II**

* * *

After assembling in the school's gymnasium, a strangely whimsical and light-hearted voice plays through the speakers. Sounding almost like it came from another world, it's strange ring left all thirteen girls with an unsettling feeling of unease in their chest for the events to come.

All of them were unaware that things were just beginning.

* * *

Before any of the girls could say another word or even shoot a glance at the others around them, the sound of a spring retracting resounded in the gym. All of their curious glances became directed at the front of the room; the stage, where there sat one of the strangest sights of the entire day.

_'What the hell is...' _But before Haruki could even finish her sentence, the events took another confusing turn.

_"Yo! How's everyone going?" _Emerged from the pedestal on the stage was a strange, monochrome coloured robotic bear. Half of it's chubby body was white, whereas the other was black. It's right eye was a normal black cirlce, but on the other side, it looked like a bright red scratch instead. With round hands and feet and it's contrasting colours, to say it was an unsettling sight would be an understatement. It's warped voice didn't help either, as many of the girls' were already on edge. _"_Hope_fully you're all going well so far!" _it continued, with an ear-piercing snicker.

After it stopped speaking, there was a murmur amongst the group of confusion. They all had practically the same thought running through their mind, which was conveniently voiced by a certain blue-haired protector. "What's up with this talking teddy bear..?" Tokaku questioned, lifting an unamused eyebrow at the animal.

The comment seemed to hurt it's artificial feelings however, as it's face began heating to a deep red colour, throwing it's arms in the air. _"Teddy bear!? Who are you calling teddy bear, lady? I am Monokuma, and your headmaster, thank you very much." _it responded with a frustrated huff of air.

Of all the girls to react first at the comment, it wasn't surprising that a high-pitched laugh resouded from the group, belonging to none other than Inukai Isuke. "So you're saying this animal is our _headmaster? _Give me a break.. I must still be dreaming, because this is _ridiculous." _This only further agitated their so-called headmaster however, and it was clearly running out of patience already.

_"You really are an ungrateful bunch of ladies, aren't ya?" _It responded. Monokuma looked like it was going to continue speaking, but another girl happened to chime in first.

"I agree, this is unbelieveable. First being kidnapped, put to sleep, and now this talking bear? This is nonsense.." Seeming to ignore the protests and wails of their headmaster was Kaminaga Kouko. With her eyes lightly closed, the pushed her glasses further up her face, most likely in an attempt to avoid the others' glances her way.

"Why do we have to get stuck in such strange schools so often..?" another complained, not even giving the bear a chance to interrupt anymore. Letting out a sigh soon after speaking, Kenmochi Shiena nervously held her arms under her chest, letting her gaze wander about the room. She seemed to be the only one to first notice the lack of windows she had seen in any part of school, and although it was a strange occurrence, she didn't think much of it. The brunette was too busy cursing her bad luck and stupidity for following the letter's instructions, without even questioning it.

_"Hey, watch it! This isn't a-"_

"Ah, it's okay Shiena-chan! As long as you're here with me and everybody else you know, it's not that strange, right~?" Takechi Otoya cut off, oblivious to the fact that Monokuma had spoken to begin with as she giggled to her former roommate. Her smile was wide and stretched from ear to ear in excitement about the whole situation, and not a single thought of doubt was running through her. She didn't even need to complete her prison sentence in order to attend this school, getting out of that hell early, so she couldn't complain. The fact that the others were present as well only made the experience that much better- especially with Haru also amongst them.

"I-I suppose so, but still.. this whole idea is really suspicious and a little scary, don't you- oh wait, never mind. You won't agree with me there, will you..?" The brunette replied, knowing the raven too well for her own good. All thoughts about the bear were lost between the two as they continued conversing, but it wasn't long before the rest of the assassins followed, ignoring their headmaster.

And that was about the last straw.

Monokuma cleared his throat, but even then, no one really cared enough to notice. Fuming with rage, the bear decided to get straight to the point in order to gain their attention, without holding back anything. _"Everybody listen up!" _it announced through the microphone on the stand before it, immediately hushing the group before it. It maybe would have smirked at the effect if half of it's face wasn't already doing so. _"You've been chosen to attend Kibougamine Academy for a reason, yes, and that is because you all have talents that I've recognised! However!" _Monokuma paused, surveying their curious glances in amusement before continuing. _"..I need you to know there are certain rules to be obeyed at this school- but this isn't some ordinary every day place, you get me? You'll be stuck here for the _rest of your lives, whether you like it or not! _Bwahahahahaa!" _

Almost as if to rub it in, the bear let out another bone-chilling laugh in it's warped voice. Although most of the assassins weren't buying the idea and found it ridiculous, the main emotion emitting from the group was down right confusion. Before any of them could express it however, their headmaster continued, clearly beginning to enjoy it's job. _"Now, now, to clear things up for you all, I mean those words just as they are! You're all stuck here in my school for the _rest of your lives. You'll be surviving here until you all die."

Somehow, the sound of such a warped and innocent voice speaking such words in a dark manner managed to gain the attention and belief of most of the girls below. The words continued ringing in their ears, and began to sunk in, despite how ridiculous it all really sounded.

"We're trapped here forever? Yeah, right. Nice try, but you're not scaring me, little bear.~" Isuke brushed off, glancing at her purple nails with unamused, half-lidded eyes. If they were in a classroom, she surely would have fallen asleep by now, bored by the entire situation completely.

_"I'm not scaring you? I don't mean to. I'm merely delivering to you the truth that you all need to hear.." _It continued, with half of it's face beginning to look more frightening than ever. _"..if I want anything from you all, it's _despair."

Saying to a group of assassins (minus one) that all you want is despair probably wasn't the greatest thing. This only raised the amount of doubt and suspicion in the room, with only few actually believing Monokuma's words- this included Haru and Mahiru. Hitsugi would have begun to believe it if it weren't for the taller redhead standing next to her, placing a hesitant hand on her shoulder. Letting out a relaxed sigh, the shorter girl's nerves began to settle once more, as if that hand was the only thing she needed to keep herself steady.

Sumireko would have talked Mahiru out of it and exposed all the lies in Monokuma's words if she wasn't standing on the other side of the room. Walking off while the bear spoke was rude, even if it was just some robotic toy, and it was something the orange-haired girl wasn't willing to do just yet. If the cowering other grew too worried about it all, then she could act.

"Okay, so let's say we are apparently trapped here forever, as you say. How would we get out of here?" questioned the seemingly calm Shuto Suzu. She never overreacted no matter what the situation, but even then, she seemed a little too collected for it all. It was almost as if this was a regular occurrence for a normal school to have, and Suzu had seen and done it all before. With her syndrome, such a thing was possible, but it was still doubtful.

_"Upupupu.." _It snickered, putting a hand to it's mouth. _"Such an intelligent bunch. I knew you would ask that quickly. Well, the only way to get out is to graduate, and the only way to do that is.." _The bear took a pause to hold back a snicker, holding onto it's duel coloured stomach for support. _"To kill another person here! Bwahahaha!"_

If this message was spread in any normal atmosphere, the receivers of the message might have begun cowering in fear and utter disbelief. However, this place had no such reaction. They were all assassins after all- what was the big deal about that?

_"Oh, oh, but I know what you're all going to say to that, 'We're all assassins already', right? Right? Well, here's the trick." _it continued, almost as if the bear read the minds of the females before it. Everyone remained silent as their interest peaked at the words, ready to hear more information. It all seemed like nothing but a large game that had been set-up for them. _"You've got to kill someone and be able to get away with it, punishment-free!" _

It seemed that with the more Monokuma explained, the more the assassins drew interest and came to believe it's words. Instead of doubting them, all the girls wanted to do was hope they were true.

. . .

Otoya smirked, placing a vacant hand on her hip. Their headmaster was long gone by now, but the group was still gathered in the large gymnasium. The words of the two-colured bear were repeating in all of their minds over and over, just so they could understand the rules and regulations of this school thoroughly. With their personal PDA's in their hands, they couldn't have expected the day to turn out to be so fulfilling.

"So, we've just got to be able to kill someone else, sit through that Class Trial without being convicted, and then we're outta here? Cool..! This is going to be fun, yes, lots and lots of _pure fun..." _The raven repeated to herself, keeping her high-pitched voice quiet enough to go unnoticed by others. Half way during the explanation the girls' had noticed none of their belongings were on them any longer, which included the serial killer's treasured box of scissors, but by that point it was insignificant. It wouldn't be that hard to find more pairs throughout the large school, and that thought alone was exciting for the girl.

Otoya wasn't the only one enjoying the intense situation however, as many of the other assassins were sharing thoughts. The only one in the entire gym that was dreading it and giving Monokuma the despair it desired was Ichinose Haru- which was to be expected.

Clinging to Tokaku's arm, she trembled in her place, trying her best to keep a smile on her face. She couldn't believe it. Again, just like Class Black, her life was being put on the line, with the same number of crazed assassins after her. She was just as defenceless as then, and couldn't do anything about it, but hope she survived. Since she was the only one with zero combat knowledge, the girl was bound to be targetted once more.

And that was something she really didn't want to believe.

"T-Tokaku-san, I don't want to..." she began, shaking her head left and right in denial. "..I don't want to kill anybody..! I don't want anyone to get hurt again! I don't want to, I don't want to, I don't want this to happen again.." Her closed eyes were just beginning to pour with tears when she felt the other girl's arm yank from her grasp, and instead wrap around her body in a hug.

The blue-haired girl let out a short sigh as she pulled Haru closer to her chest, narrowing her gaze on the floor. "Hey, calm down. I know this is all misfortunate, but we have to go through it all again, just like before.." she explained, thinking of it more as stating the truth than comforting Ichinose. As she spoke, the shorter hugged her back, oblivious to the fact that those two were the centre of attention. "I'm still going to be here, alright? I'm still going to-"

The girl paused, thinking about her words carefully. She had accomplished in protecting Haru in Class Black, but did that mean she wanted to do it again..? The other assassins knew of her weaknesses and advantages, so things would be very different. _'But then again, they're not all going to be aiming for Ichinose this time.. and they'll have to be careful about not leaving any traces behind. I think I can.. I should be able.. to..' _

"..protect you." she finished. The words rang through Haru's body, just like they did when she heard them on the first day at Myojo Academy. They never failed to lighten her spirit and hopes, even if it was just a little bit or for a temporary amount of time. She hated the thought of being alone, so having someone like Tokaku stand by her side was enough to make her happier than ever before.

"Tch. The lovers' are at it again." Isuke commented with a roll of her eyes, habitually twirling her front locks of pink hair. She received a hum of agreement in response, and a few scattered comments from the rest of the assassins, but nothing more. "This whole game isn't even that big a deal. It's just like another regular job."

"I suppose, but some of us here are very careless when it comes to cleaning up scenes, and well.. I'd say our deduction skills are more sharp than any normal citizens." The blue-haired Suzu explained, pointing out relavent things to take into consideration. "Besides, if we guess our verdict wrong in that trial, all of our lives will be taken away. I'd say that's enough to make us on edge about this whole thing.."

"Whatever." the pink-haired other dismissed with a wave of her manicured hand. "I'm going to get out of this place as fast as I can, I don't care. I'm going to my room.." she announced, turning heel for the pair of large doors. No one seemed to objected at first, until moments later when she stepped out into the hallway.

"Wait, Isuke-sama..?" Her former roommate called out from across the room, giving her a faint smile as she remembered the name she went by. The other girl briefly turned her head to the voice, raising an eyebrow at the familiar face. "Do you even know_ where _your room is?" Despite never going to a proper school, Haruki raised quite a point, and left Isuke blinking cluelessly as she thought. It wasn't long before she groaned in frustration and turned away from her, stepping to leave the room once more.

"No, but I'll find it eventually; quicker than any of you will." she coldly responded, earning a chuckle from the other red head. With no real problem with that, Sagae didn't say anything else, allowing the girl to strut off and find her bedroom.

Since she wasn't in conversation to begin with and happened to overhear, Nio placed her hands behind her back and approached the Pocky-eating girl, wearing her usual kitty face. "I have to wonder how you deal with someone like her, Sagae-san." she stated, as said girl looked down at the blonde with a friendly smile. She wasn't urked by the situation at all, despite her internal fears and unease.

"Hm? I don't get what you mean." was her oblivious response, tilting her head. Shaking her head in response, Nio waved her hand in dismissal, finding the other's attitude quite amusing.

"Don't worry then~" she cheered, glancing out of the room and at the illuminated hallway for a few moments. She soon turned back to the taller girl. "Should we follow her, or something? I don't think staying in this gym for long is a very good idea." she mentioned.

Frowning, Haruki thought for a moment, before coming empty-handed and shrugging her shoulders. "Dunno.. this place seems to be pretty big, so we should probably search it's grounds soon too. Why don't you ask the others?"

And so, with a quick nod of her head, that's exactly what Nio proceeded to do.

* * *

**A/N: If you haven't already noticed, this takes the exact setting of the first Dangan Ronpa game, and not the second~**

**But yeah. Catch you in the next one~**


	3. Chapter 03

**Chapter 03: Welcome to Despair High School Part III**

* * *

After being given PDA's holding all the information and rules they need, the group of assassins finish their meeting with the mysterious Monokuma. With all of them talking amongst themselves, Isuke on a trip to find their bedrooms, and with nothing else to do, Nio decides to take control.

They need to decide where to go now.

* * *

And so, after spending another fifteen minutes discussing and arguing over what to do and where to go next, the group of females decided on searching the school grounds. The school seemed extremely large from the outside, so if they really were trapped inside Kibougamine Academy, there would be a lot of rooms to explore. It would surely occupy their time, and although none could tell whether it was night or day, it was the only option they had.

Besides Isuke who had split up from the group earlier on, everyone else formed into small groups to search different areas of the school. Group 1 consisted of Tokaku, Haru, Chitaru and Hitsugi. Group 2 consisted of Otoya, Shiena, Kouko, and Suzu, while Group 3 was left with Nio, Haruki, Sumireko, and Mahiru. It was similar to how they had been grouped in their dorm rooms the year previously, and so they were all quite comfortable in their groups. The groups planned on searching the west side, middle, and east side respectively, so each section could be covered.

It didn't take them long to actually set out an begin exploring either, agreeing to meet back up in the gymnasium when they had finished their search as thoroughly as possible.

. . .

"Tokaku-san, how far west do we have to walk?"

"Until we reach the end of this building."

"How long is that..? This place is really big and the lights are funny colours, it looks really creepy. There's so many rooms too, do you think-"

"Stop talking, Ichinose."

"O-Oh. Okay.." Tokaku clearly didn't have the patience or right attitude to put up with Haru's questions, as everytime she spoke, she would brush her off. Her sharp eyes focused on her surroundings and only that, staying glued on new doors, hallways and surroundings that interested her. Haru attempted to do the same, but the tiles and lights around her caused her head to spin, and she kept her gaze to the floor as she silently walked beside the other.

Following behind the pair was Chitaru and Hitsugi, the latter of which was quietly humming to herself as she looked around. The two's hands never drifted apart, almost as if they had to hold onto each other for their life as they took their slow pace. "I never thought I'd make it to a talent school, even if it is a little weird." Hitsugi commented, looking up to the other with a graceful smile. "They say we all have 'Super Duper High School' titles, even if we aren't all in high school. Mine's the Super Duper High School Poisoner, which is straightforward.. it's not even a talent. What's your's, Chitaru-san?"

Even if she knew full well that the red head wasn't able to give a proper response, barely starting rehab recently, the shorter of the pair liked to converse with her. It made her feel secure, and know that she wasn't alone, even if her hand was always being held. "..patient."

The sudden word from Chitaru almost surprised the younger girl, eyes blinking in surprise. "Patient?" she repeated, not quite understanding the reason for the word at first. "..as in, your letter said 'Super Duper High School Patient'..?" she questioned, eyes focused on the other girl instead of her surroundings.

The taller gave a nod, managing to give the other a small smile. This sight only caused Hitsugi's heart to pump in her chest, reasons unknown to her, as she gave her own large smile in return. "I guess that is your talent, Chitaru-san." she began. "You've survived a lot.. and you're really strong. You might be in the hospital all the time, but you really are special.."

"Why am I the only one actually searching here?" Tokaku complained, muttering under her breath in frustration. She couldn't blame Chitaru for her condition, but Haru and Hitsugi were just being annoyances, and seemed to be walking along just for the ride. It was disappointing to say the least, as she clenched her fists beside her short skirt.

"Hm? What did you say, Tokaku-san?" Haru questioned in an innocent manner, large eyes almost sparkling as they gazed at the other girl. She resembled an innocent puppy, or maybe even a defenseless rabbit at times that was quite adorable-

Shaking her head with a sigh, the bluenette looked around her once more, averting her gaze. "Nothing. Let's just keep searching, okay?" But as soon as the words left her, her legs stopped in place, struck by the sight before her. The white tiles beneath her echoed with the sound of footsteps behind her, belonging to the pair of girls also in her group, but that wasn't what caught her attention.

Before her was another unfamiliar hallway, lined with several doors on either side of it's red illuminated walls. The floor was also red, switching from tiles to plain, coloured wood. Standing in the middle of it however, reading the labels on all of the doors was a certain pink-haired female. "Look who we ran into.."

The girl glanced up, before scowling at the sight. "..oh for the love of.."

. . .

"So what's classified as 'the middle', exactly?" Kouko questioned behind her glasses, looking cluelessly around the hall. They stood in front of a door that seemed to lead to the A/V room, also not too far from the School Store. The quartet stood in a neat square formation, although it wasn't purposeful, as they thought.

"Hmmm..." Otoya hummed, placing a hand over her mouth as she pondered, rocking back and forth on her excited heels. Every since the meeting earlier, the raven's body hadn't stopped pumping with energy, and she found it difficult to stand still. Her constant rocking and bouncing up and down didn't seem to annoy anyone, so it wasn't a problem. "..Maaaaybe.. from around where we are now to that hallway over there?" she assumed, pointing in the direction Group 1 headed. It seemed like a narrow corridor that lead to another section of the school, and was as far as the eye could see.

"..what's over there, anyway?" Shiena questioned, curious about the school in general. It really was a mysterious place, so it was only natural to feel uneasy about it. No one could really blame her.

"No idea. I'm pretty sure the rest of the first group headed that way though, so we can leave it to them. Besides, from the looks of things, the third group doesn't have that much area to cover.." Suzu explained, receiving a few nods and hums of agreement in response. There wasn't much of the east side to cover really. The gym was one of the furthest things east they could explore.

"We should get right to it then." The pig-tailed girl reminded, shooting suspicious glances around the school ground. "I really don't trust the way this play is illuminated or set out at all. Did anyone else notice the bolted down walls?"

"They're pretty hard to miss. They're everywhere, and it's really weird.." The brunette of the group replied, recalling all of the metal walls she had observed in the school so far. There had been some in the first classroom she woke up in and the entrance hall. "It's probably to stop us from breaking out of here though."

"Good point... this place really does keep getting stranger and stranger with the more we figure out, doesn't it?" With a sigh, Suzu ran a hand through her choppy, blue hair.

"That's what makes it so _interesting and exciting though..!" _The criminal pointed out, giving an innocent giggle at the thought. "We'll just have to explore and find more strange things about this place then, won't we?"

. . .

"Are you kidding me? We take one step outside to find that the staircase is closed down by a shutter? This sucks." Haruki whined, letting out a sigh. Their group was supposed to be exploring the east area, but if the staircase was closed, then there wasn't much of an east area to explore- something that disappointed the constructive worker thoroughly. "Well, what are we supposed to do now?"

"..a-ah.. w-well, we can um, g-go.. and.. j-join the other-"

"Well, we can either stay here and thoroughly search this small portion of an area, join the other groups, or we can steal some of the second group's area and search there as well." Interrupting the quiet Mahiru was one of the youngest of the group, Sumireko. The rich daughter liked to think she was merely speaking up for her white-haired friend in a louder and noticeable tone, but to the other two students, she seemed to be rudely cutting her off instead.

"Oh, remember, we've still got that Trophy Room to properly search through. We can also go back into the gym if we wanted to, or the restrooms- but I doubt we have to search those.~" Nio pointed out, using her finger to aim at the places she spoke of as they came from her mouth.

"..we really don't have much to do, huh? Talk about being useless.." The red head complained, placing a hand to her hip. "Well? What do we do?"

The group sat in silence for a few moments, seeming to think hard, despite how unfocused most of their minds were. The first one to speak up again was the most mentally collected of the group, so it was no surprise. "Here. We'll search every room we can first, and if we run out before the others return, then we can go through some of the middle section. Seem like a sound plan to all of you?" Sumireko explained, suddenly beginning to take charge of the whole group.

Mahiru gave a weak nod, keeping her eyes on the orange-haired figure and standing close by. She was one of the only friends she had, and was the only thing keeping her calm. The other two gave each other quick glances, before turning to the other pair with wide smiles.

"Sure thing. Let's get to it then." Haruki accepted, before the group set off together to the trophy room leading to the gymnasium. Something about the snickering duo following behind the calm and quiet others made it seem like this plan wasn't going to work out very well at all.

"..what are you two laughing about?" Sumireko questioned, sending them a glare from the corner of her eye. Caught off-guard by her sudden strict attitude, Nio and Haruki immediately shut their mouths. That didn't mean they were able to wipe their silly smiles from their faces though, grinning innocently at the other girl.

"Nothing." The red head waved off, putting her hands up defencively. Despite raising an eyebrow and doubting those words, the other dropped the subject with a sigh.

"..right. As you say."

. . .

By the time everybody had gathered in the gymnasium once more- including Isuke- everyone had calmed down and come to accept the situation. There was going to be murders and deaths, but they all still remained uneffected by the idea. No one had any real fears or doubts besides Haru, but that was something that didn't seem to be able to be fixed.

Under Shiena's commands, everyone stood in a neat and close to perfect circle. Each group was required to give a report and update the rest of the girls on their findings, and point out any detail that was strange or might help in their escape from this school.

As Group 1 was required to step up first, and no one else was willing, Tokaku sighed, clearing her throat. "Alright, we found quite the amount of area.." she began, recalling the map of the school she had planned out in her head. "Further down the hallway down the west side leads to another section of the school, where every one's dorm rooms are. Every one has been assigned a room to themselves, and the name plates on the doors indicate this."

"So no one has roommates and there can't be any room switching..?" Kouko questioned, wanting to confirm every detail before the other proceeded. The bluenette gave a firm nod of her head, looking the other assassin's way.

"Exactly right. All the rooms have their own bathroom, and are completely sound proof as well, so.. I suppose that's there for a reason." she explained, before pausing. "Near the dorms also lies the cafeteria, bath, laundry room, storage room, separate restroom, trash incinerator, and a staircase leading to the next floor. It's blocked off by shutters though, so it's off-limits. That's pretty much it."

Seeing no other questions and no need for the group to waste time, Group 2 had to step up and give their report. This was done by Shiena, but of course, she wasn't going to go uninterrupted. "Alright, we obviously searched the middle area, and-"

"Found _nooooothing!" _Otoya chimed in with a giggle, earning a glare and a smack on the head from her brunette friend. "..ow." she whined, putting on a comical pout, although it was ignored by the other girl. "..meanie.."

"Shut up, will you!? We didn't find nothing, we found a few rooms of interest." she corrected, pouting behind her lenses.

"We found an A/V room, classrooms, and an infirmary! Oh, there was also some really big red doors, but it was locked, so we don't know where it goes.~" The raven from earlier filled in, as Shiena growled under her breath. Her anger was growing, and her patience was falling. Why did dealing with a serial killer have to be so damn difficult?

"..y-yeah. That." she finished, glaring at the other girl, who gave an innocent wave. Kenmochi rolled her eyes, connecting her palm with her forehead in disappointment. _'Why.. oh, why me..?'_

The duo had nothing else to update on, and although they didn't say it formally, Sumireko was quick to pick up on this. It seemed she was running out of patience too- probably from putting up with and scolding Haruki and Nio from earlier on- although her graceful smile was still plastered on her face. Not knowing what was running through her head was quite unsettling.

"Our group also found a staircase leading up, but it too was blocked off." she began without a word of warning, catching most of the girls off guard- including the other three of her group. None of them intervened though, as she continued. "We found restrooms here too, and looked closer at the trophy room connecting the hallway and this room, but nothing else. Sorry to disappoint."

Just as the group thought she had finished, she cleared her throat, gaining their attention once more. "However," she started, cupping her hands before her. "We've noticed the amount of security cameras in every room, and was wondering if anyone else did..?"

Like she had reminded the others of a vital detail they had forgotten about- which was exactly the case, though none dared to admit it- almost all of the girls' eyes were staring at the orange-haired girl. "Actually, now that you mention it.." Haru began, surprising everyone with her sudden input in such a delicate situation. "Every room we went into had cameras too. Not one of them didn't have any.."

"..except for the bath." Tokaku added, glaring at her pig-tailed companion. She stared back for a moment with a shocked expression, but it didn't last long before it was replaced with a nervous smile and laugh. "Clearly you didn't notice Ichinose, but while you were busy conversing and slacking off, I happened to notice. The only room without a security camera is the bath."

"..I'm pretty sure I can agree with that. All the rooms we went into had them, I'm sure." Suzu informed, cupping a hand to her chin in thought. The atmosphere of the group had become more intense, but possibly because they all became aware of the security cameras focusing on them at that very moment. "What could they possibly need all those cameras for, though..? This whole school is suspicious and there's no reason as to why all of this is even happening.."

"We can't determine who the real culprit is in the end if we don't have the photographic evidence to prove it." was Tokaku's immediate response, almost as if she had been thinking about the question all day. This was true to an extent however, as she had asked herself this as soon as she realised the lack of cameras in the room.

Leaving her words hanging in the quiet atmosphere, the other assassins remained quiet, most of them pondering the thought. They were constantly being watched, and it couldn't be helped. They had to kill each other to get out of here alive and return to the world they had gotten so used to, whether they wanted to or not. This whole situation was serious- at least, that's what everything pointed to. There couldn't be any other reason for it all.

"And plus, it stops any of us from doing anything behind the scenes that's against the rules. I don't know what that would be exactly, I assume Monokuma wants to keep a constant eye on us, just in case."

The worst part was that none of the assassins objected to prove her wrong.


	4. Chapter 04

**Chapter 04: Welcome to Despair High School Part IV**

* * *

After splitting up and searching the first floor of the Kibougamine Academy, the group gather in the gymnasium and spread word of their findings. They finally begin to accept the situation, despite the unliklihood of it all.

Things only begun to go downhill from there.

* * *

The only noise that broke the harsh silence of the assassins was the ringing of a bell, played through the speakers and televisions in every room of the school.

_Diiiing, Doooong.. Diiiing, Doooong.._

It caught everyone off guard, and they were soon looking around for the television's announcement, familiar with it's sounds- all except Haruki however, who wasn't present when the first one resouded. She was left to cluelessly stare around the room, mentally questioning what was going on and why everyone was so calm about it. _'Just my damn luck..'_

She wasn't about to voice this confusion, even if it did display on her face clearly, and went with the flow. No one else was speaking, and instead they listened out for the eerie voice that was to come from the speakers, and what it would instruct them to do next.

_"Hey, you all listening? This is an announcement for you. To get you started on your lives here, I've prepared a surprise for you. It's waiting in the AV room, so head there immediately!" _

As soon as the announcement began, it was quick to end, only half of the words being comprehended by the stunned red head. It was definitely the unique voice of Monokuma- no one else had a deformed voice like that. No matter what it said, it seemed to stick with the girl with an added sense of dread. Hearing that there was a surprise waiting in the AV room wasn't really helping calm the girl's nerves either. It was quite suspicious, to say the least.

"Okay, you heard the announcement, let's get to it~!" Interrupting Haruki's thought process was Nio's high-pitched voice, from directly beside her. The taller blinked in confusion. _'Wait, so we're just meant to go along with it..? Isn't that a little.. illogical, or something?' _she wondered. _'Surely I'm not the only one with these thoughts..' _

By the time she opened her mouth to question her outloud however, the rest of the assassins had begun talking over her, making their way out of the gym without question. Dumbfounded, Sagae was left no choice but to trudge behind everyone else again, staring while muttering a small, "..are you serious?"

. . .

The group of females reached the AV room without a single problem. Inside the dimly lit room were sets of computers, each with a single DVD sitting on top of the computer's surface. Upon closer inspection, they all seemed to have name's on them, clearing stating who's DVD it belonged to.

_'Sagae Haruki's DVD' _

Raising an eyebrow, the red head picked up the single disk, looking it over before taking a seat in front of the computer. Everyone else seemed to do the exact same, all putting on the attached headphones and watching their DVD's separately. Because each computer desk was separated by a small wall, it was impossible to see what was displayed on any one else's screen besides their own.

"Is.. anyone else as doubtful about this as I am?" Haruki called out to no one in particular, hoping to get some sort of response. As soon as she did, the girl noticed where everyone was sitting- in particular, she realised who was sitting beside her. From her left, another voice reached her ears, and she found herself instantly turning her head to face them.

"Who cares what's on these discs? It's probably nothing to get all fussed about."

"Isuke-sama..?" Sagae's smile returned at the sight of her former roommate. "I'm not fussed about it, I'm just saying.. you never know with that Monokuma guy." she explained, widening her smile. Isuke didn't bother lifting her head to notice it however, too busy slipping on her own headphones.

"Sorry, can't hear you, Haruki." With eyes focused on nothing but the screen before her, Isuke drowned out the other completely, earning a light sigh from the ignored girl.

"Knew it was too good to be true.. Whatever you say~!" Haruki waved off, before following the other girl's actions and slipping her headphones on over her ears. _'I guess it really can't be that bad, can it? It's just a DVD. Who knows, maybe it could be some actual good news.' _And with that optimistic thought in mind, she obliviously slid the disc into the computer's hard drive, as the video automatically started up.

The last thing Haruki expected to show up on her screen was her family.

All of her 9 younger siblings were present, as well as her ill mother. They were all present there in the hospital, looking at the camera and smiling.

The mere sight of them brought about a soft smile on the oldest sibling's face, heart beat relaxing in her chest. She found herself smiling in contentment just like that- and that was before they began speaking. When their familiar and soothing voices reached her ears, she began to realise just how much she had actually missed them.

Although she was surprised at how something so simple could have such an impact, she didn't question it for long, instead focusing on listening to their cheery voices and encouraging words.

_"Ha-chan made it to that special academy!" _  
_"We want to congradulate you and wish you the best of luck, Haruki. We're all very proud of you and your achievements!"_

_"I wanna go to a school like you, Ha-chan! I want to be like Ha-chan..!"_

_"We'll be waiting for you, big sis!"_

Just as Haruki began to relax in her seat and release all of the worries that had been restraining her, the screen flashed. Everything became static and a blur of lines, as the audio cut off completely.

Before the girl could even react properly or raise an eyebrow in confusion, the static disappeared and was replaced with another image on the screen. Her eyes widened, breath stopped and heart pounded as she felt one emotion take over her entire trembling body.

_Despair._

Instead of showing her family being cheerful in front of the camera at the hospital, the scenery changed completely. With nothing but a buzz from her headphones, it displayed the Sagae household.

With all the rubble, torn wallpaper and trashed furniture however, it was difficult to recognise. The sky was a dim grey and there were hardly any lights around, causing the unease in Haruki's stomach to churn. She soon begun hearing noises coming from her headphones- but not just any regular noise.

Screams.

The cries, pleas and ear-piercing screams of all of her younger siblings reached her ears as her body froze completely, save for her uncontrollable quivering. The family she worked so hard to support, the family that she lived for was screaming and crying, and all she could do was sit and watch.

_"S-Stop, no..! No, no, I don't want to, stop it..! Help me, someone, Ha-chan, please..! Help..!"_

She didn't even notice that by this point, she wasn't even taking breaths any more, too struck and dazed to do anything. The girl didn't even notice the stream of tears down her cheeks, or the fear-struck expressions of the others around her.

Just as she deemed she couldn't take anymore and wanted to just rip the headphones from her ears and trash the desk, another sound resounded. It faded in quietly before fading back out, taking the girl a few moments to actually distinguish what it was.

_'..t-t..that's... no.. way.. that's..'_

_Beep. Beep. Beep. _

_..beeeeeeep._

_'..f-flat..line..'_

_"Graduate, and you'll be able to save them."_

When the video finally finished, Haruki didn't care for who would be looking her way.

Immediately, she threw the headphones from her head and shot from her seat, stumbling backwards from the speed of the motion. The legs beneath her were still trembling and weak, and gave way completely when she collided with the back wall of the room, creating a loud bang that resounded all around.

"..n-no.." she choked, unable to erase the video that had been burned into her mind. "..no way.. _no fucking way..!" _Shutting her eyes tightly together, tears continued spilling from her eyes as she grasped tightly at her red hair, tearing and pulling in denial. "..I-I don't want to.. _let me get out of here, god dammit! Y-You monster.. I hate this, let me out of here..!" _

She continued to scream and scream at the top of her lungs, throat quickly becoming dry as she ignored everything else. She didn't keep track of what she was saying or how much time passed, completely forgetting she wasn't alone in the room in her outburst- the only thing pulling her back into reality were the sudden pair of hands she felt clasping over her own.

"Haruki." The breathy, feminine voice was enough to stop her from letting out any more screams, instead coming to a shaky silence. Trying to blink away the tears in her eyes and clear her vision, she slowly lifted her head to look at the other female sitting beside her, eyes widening at the sight.

"..I..Isuke..sama.." But before the pink-haired girl could even respond, glacing at the other with soft, orange eyes, she was interrupted by a voice that sent chills down the girls' spines.

_"Upupupu.." _Then, being displayed on the largest screen at the front wall of the room was that black and white bear, Monokuma. _"Did you enjoy your presents, ladies..?"_

Haruki didn't even bother to look up at the terrible headmaster, feeling too weak to bother. Even if she managed to look at the bear, she assumed she would end up throwing a chair at it's face, and lose it again. "..y-you.." she began, not caring for who was listening. "..it's all you fault.. all of it.. _it's all because of you and your stupid school! You're nothing but a monster..! _A monster who deserves to just.."

The tightened grip on her hands stopped her from continuing as Haruki gazed at the other girl, body still shaking. "..that's enough, Haruki. You can calm down.." her former roommate spoke. Even though she was reaching out to her, the red head could still manage to find traces of sadness within the other's orange eyes.

_"Well, well, well, that's rude of you! I haven't trapped you here completely, there is a way to get out of here, like I said." _Monokuma continued. It seemed the bear was listening after all, which just made the situation even more stressful. _"You'll just have to kill someone, won't you? Go ahead, you can do it at aaany time." _With the more their headmaster spoke, the more the atmosphere thickened over the group. It got to the point where if they breathed too heavily, everything would come crashing down. _"That is all. Enjoy your time here, assassins! Bwahahahaha!" _

And, leaving that single laugh to completely swallow up the atmosphere, Monokuma's projection cut off. The room was left completely silent for the moments that followed, with everyone sitting tensed up in their seat- save for the two on the floor.

"..I..I'm going to my room.." Haruki's soft words were the only thing that broke the harsh silence. Scrambling to her feet, she shook off Isuke's hands roughly before rushing out of the room. Running as fast as her body would take her, she ignored the surroundings and lights whizzing past as she bolted into her bedroom, slamming the door firmly behind her.

The gir soon realised that she had used up all of her energy in those few moments, and barely had any left over to keep herself steady. Before she could even catch her breath again, the girl fell onto her knees, staring at the tiled ground with burning, wide eyes. The world was still blurry.

"Why.. did I have to come to this stupid school..?" she choked, constantly swallowing to hold back any more tears. "Why did this have to happen..? Why me..? I don't get it at all.." A part of Haruki protested with whatever she said outloud, accusing her of overreacting. It was just a video, it's just a school. What was there to be so dramatic about? Usually she wouldn't burst like this, so why did some stupid video make things any different?

Maybe if she could control her body's trembling and could hear those thoughts she would have listened to them. It was too bad she was too busy recalling all of the images, all of the screams and pleas, and listening to that heart-stopping beeping of the hospital machine to pay any attention to anything else. She didn't even notice when the unlocked door behind her swung open, and another figure slid her way into the room.

"..you're on the floor? Really..." the person whispered to themselves, going unnoticed by the girl on the floor. She was still too busy remembering every detail of that video and muttering words to herself to notice. Clearing her throat, the taller female decided to raise her volume so that she could hear. "Haruki, get up." she ordered, twirling her front curls.

At the sound of Isuke's voice again right behind her, the red head paused, glancing up from the floor to look at the wall across the room. She knew that, even if she tried, she wouldn't be able to gather the strength she needed to fulfil the other's request. She wasn't about to lie to one of her closest friends either. "..I'm s-sorry, Isuke-sama.." she forced, finding a sadness-filled, faint smile on her face. "..I can't.. do that.. for you.."

A sigh escaped the other's lips as she gazed down at the broken figure, expression unreadable before she spoke up again. "Yes you can. All you have to do is stand up. There's nothing difficult about that." As cold as she seemed, her intentions were good, as they always were. She didn't mean to make the other feel any worse- she wasn't, anyway.

"Well, y-yeah, but.."

"But what? _All you have to do is stand up, Haruki. _I know you can do that much." she interrupted, not wanting to hear any excuses from the other girl. Her blank gaze even shifted to her coloured nails for a moment, almost becoming bored with the wait she had to go through. Dealing with a normal, goofy Haruki was difficult enough, but this was a whole new level of difficult. _'Hopefully this'll actually be worth it.. helping people is such a damn pain.'_

Sighing in defeat, Haruki sniffled a little, finally rubbing at her eyes. After blinking, she could see her surroundings clearly again, but that didn't help her body's lack of energy. She still shook and couldn't move anything but her arms and head, almost as if everything from her waist down had been paralysed. If that was the case, she would have to be hospitalised just like her mothe-

Shaking her head of the thoughts, she internally wished for the other girl to speak over the top of her thoughts. There was no way she would hear her wishes however, and had to simply return to trying to stand up- something that seemed a lot easier than it actually was. "H-Hey Isuke-sama.. do you mind lending me a.. hand then..?"

"Hmm.. nope." Isuke didn't even need to think about her response, only humming and putting on the act for the other's sake. "You've got to stand up yourself. Why would I help you?"

Since she was used to hearing such harsh words, they didn't seem to effect the red head on the floor, instead being brushed off with another sigh. Seeing as she didn't have a choice, Haruki didn't even think about the possibility of falling back over when she held her breath, preparing to stand back up.

This was definitely easier said than done however, and the girl found this out the hard way.

Even after she shifted most of her weight onto her arms to free her legs, they did nothing but shake when she tried pushing herself up and off the floor. Because she tried this multiple times and her legs still didn't move, her arms were quick to tire, adding to the number of shaking limbs of her body. _'C-Crap.. I'm not that weak.. a-am I..? I can do something like stand up.. r-right..?' _The doubts in her head weren't helping, and with the pace she was going at, standing seemed impossible.

That is, until she felt another pair of arms wrap around her chest, and yank her from the ground. Feeling weightless, she didn't object to the sudden action, actually feeling quite shocked at how unexpectedly it came and went. As soon as Haruki steadied her legs back onto the ground, keeping her trembling to a minimum, the grip was released.

Blinking, the girl shot a glance over her shoulder, staring in disbelief at the other female. "..I thought you said you weren't-"

"You were having too much trouble, I thought I'd be waiting all day for you." Isuke quickly remarked, averting her gaze to the wall as she frowned. Pulling her hand free from her hair, she waved it in front of her. "Don't think much of it, idiot."

The words only caused the other's gaze to soften as she completely spun around, finding a small frown on her face. It was difficult for the girl to smile genuinly, even with the other in the room with her. The previous memories were still lingering in the back of her head, and preventing her from feeling anything close to happiness.

Of course, such a strange sight didn't go unnoticed by Isuke, who found herself gazing at the other out of the corner of her vision. Haruki without a smile.. it was like a huge piece of her was just missing. It just wasn't right- a frown didn't belong on her face. "Anyway, you'd better fix that unfitting expression of your's before I do something about it, Haruki."

The other blinked, surprised that such words could even come from Isuke's mouth. She was sure she knew what she meant, but it was still hard to believe. "Fix your attitude, too. I've never heard the words 'I can't' come from you, and I don't want to ever again, got it?" Isuke continued as the other female nodded, still shocked by the words. "Good."

Turning heel, the pink-haired girl opened the door, stepping outside to leave. Just as she took one step to leave however, she paused, sending one final glance over her shoulder before closing the door behind her. "If you ever feel that pathetic, I suppose I'll have no choice but to pick you back up again."

All Haruki could do was stare at the closed door, and think about the meaningful words she was left with.

_'She really.. isn't a bad person.. huh?' _


	5. Chapter 05

**Chapter 05: Kill and Live- (Not) Normal Arc Part I**

* * *

After being told by Monokuma to check out their presents in the AV room, the girls are given a surprise DVD. All of them hold videos with more than intriguing contents, personally aiming to give the assassins a motive and drive to kill and graduate from the academy.

Close after, night time began approaching.

* * *

Haruki didn't want to go back outside after that.

Sure, she really wanted to thank Isuke for saying such things and actually going out of her way to help her- which was something extremely rare for the other girl- but her body refused to move from her position. It was almost as if when she was alone, she wasn't about to control her body at all. _'..haa.. I should probably.. cool down somewhere else. On my bed, for example. I mean, it is there for a reason.'_

With an exhausted sigh, the red head brought herself to her senses. Although it first started off as nothing but a twitch of her leg, she eventually managed to stumble her way over to the large bed in the centre of the room, crashing upon it's suprisingly soft mattress. It was unlike the one she was used to resting on at home- the one that would creak with every movement she made, and felt as hard as a rock. This bed actually felt like.. well, a bed, and less like the ground.

Rolling over onto her back, the girl gazed up at the ceiling with tired eyes. She could see the security camera in the corner of her vision, watching her every move as she did nothing but stare in discomfort. Even if she wasn't going to stay at the school for long, that fact would get some real getting used to before she could actually relax.

"..I'll be home soon.. I'll make sure of it.. whether I have to kill someone or not, I'm going to get out of this place.. safe and sound."

. . .

After Haruki stormed from the AV room and Isuke closely followed behind, a few of the other girls had also left the room, for their own personal reasons. None of them spoke a word to each other after that, until one particular raven cast an unreadable glance to the girls left in the room.

"..hmm.. Suzu-chan, Nio-chan, Tokaku-chan, Haru-chaaan.. Sumireko-chan, Mahiru-chan.. aaand that's it." Otoya whispered to herself with a small frown, blinking about the dark room. The criminal made sure to survey everyone's expressions as closely as possible, just in case she could pick out which of them were most effected by this encounter. She needed to prepare herself just in case she got attacked after all, and also for who to target herself. If they were mentally weak, they wouldn't stand a chance.

"..that means I can get rid of Haruki-chan who already left.." she began listing, as she shot a glance at the open door way. "..Suzu-chan who looks like she just got run over by a truck, teehee..!" Her eyes fell upon the blue-haired girl, who's face looked extremely grim and dull. She wasn't smiling or grinning like usual, only frowning, with the light of the screen reflecting against her face. "..and of course, _my Haru-chan..." _

As soon as her eyes reached the pig-tailed other, her gaze sharpened as her grin widened. The girl even found a light blush against her cheeks, which deepened with the longer she stared at the vulnerable girl. "..who cares if she's got a so-called protector~? They're not roommates anymore, I can do _what I want~!" _Suppressing a dark laugh behind her hand, her heart pounded in her chest. _Excitement. _She was feeling excited about the whole idea. "Now _this _is surely something worth breaking out of prison for.."

With a shake of her head, the criminal stood from her chair, unable to rid her psychotic smirk. Walking from one end of the room to the door, she let out an innocent giggle, flicking out an arm beside her. "Well now ladies, there's no time to waste. We should make our priority getting out of here, and nothing more." _We should make our priority killing each other, and nothing more. _But Takechi had to hold back on her true beliefs as she left the room.

Strolling through the hallways, Otoya decided to find a weapon before going to her room. It was impossible to carry out an assassination with bare hands, or even without her scissors by her side, so of course it was a priority. She felt empty and bland enough walking around without them next to her- and that was something she could easily fix.

"Hmm, hmm! I wonder, I wonder where they could be~!" she hummed in a cheerful tune as she continued through the hallways, walking past several rooms before coming to a normal looking, white door. "Oh! This is just perfect! Teehee~! Won't be long now." And with a final grin, she walked into the Infirmary, going unseen.

. . .

_Diiiing, Doooong.. Diiiing, Doooong.._

Most of the girls had split up and either stayed in their dorm rooms or were wandering the school grounds when the announcement came. Due to the number of speakers and televisions around though, every one of them heard the message that came, listening to every word like they were required to. They never knew what to expect, and of all things, didn't expect something light-hearted like this.

_"Ahem, may I have your attention please? The time is now 10:00 PM. "Nighttime" is now in effect. The cafeteria is now off-limits, and the door will be locked momentarily. And with that, I wish you all a good night. Sweet dreams..."_

At the words, almost everyone reacted differently, taking them in different ways.

Otoya, who was busy flipping the infirmary upside down in order to find some scissors didn't even pause for the announcement, seeing it as insignificant compared to her goal. Her former roommate, Shiena, was still quite unnerved by the earlier DVD and had set out to search for the raven girl when it resounded. Seeing as she had been searching for quite the while, she simply gave up, returning to her room, all alone. If it was night, then all she could do was rest.

Chitaru still had never left Hitsugi's side, even after they watched the videos. The red head hid away her unease to help out and comfort the younger to the best of her ability, deciding to stay in Chitaru's dorm room until everything was calm and clear again. The announcement didn't bother them, although they did sit in silence pondering about it and other things for quite the while. The only thing that broke them apart was Hitsugi's announcement of needing to go to the restroom, at which the other didn't complain.

Mahiru could barely move from her seat in the AV room as well, too busy trembling and chattering away to herself to notice anything else. The announcement of it being nighttime shocked through her system, eyes widening in shock at the words. Of all things, she expected- no, she wished for- Shinya to appear again and take over her body. She hadn't felt she needed her dual personality ever since the events that transpired a year ago, but this night was an exception. All she could think about was the lost presence of her other half, and how badly she actually wanted it back- at least, even if it was temporarily.

Sumireko was the only one to actually become sceptical about Monokuma's words, as she usually did. Though the idea of being trapped in such a school was still ridiculous in her eyes, she had no doubt come to believe it after it was proven. Now searching for her own amount of proof, she headed off to the cafeteria.

Standing before it's large doors, the girl let out a sigh after brushing her hair behind her shoulders. She didn't know what to expect as she stepped forward, pressing up against the surface of the hard doors, only to hear it click and rattle in protest. No matter how hard her artificial arms pressed up against it, the door wouldn't budge. "Well, that settles that matter. It really is locked."

That didn't stop her from doubting the fact that is was night altogether, even if there wasn't any way to prove it. The group had pointed out earlier that there weren't any windows whatsoever in the school, probably to hide the time from the students completely. Though her internal curiosity was beginning to well up and her deduction skills were just getting warmed up, the cyborg had no choice but to drop the matter, calmly walking back to her room without another word.

The rest of the assassins' in their rooms- which included Suzu, Kouko, Tokaku, Haru, Nio, and Isuke- all practically waved off the announcement, not caring for the news. It didn't make a difference to them, and so they carried on with their conversations or thoughts- whatever they were already doing previously.

Haruki happened to have already fallen asleep by the time the bell even rang out, and yet again, she missed an announcement.

At least she didn't have to hear Monokuma's deformed voice again.

**Day 02**

_Diiiing, Doooong.. Diiiing, Doooong.._

_"Good morning _you guys! _It is now 7:00 AM! Rise and shiiiine! Let's make today into the best day it can be!"_

With tired groan, Haruki rolled over on her bed, curling further up into the ball she was already in. Hearing the voice of a certain headmaster was not the most pleasant thing to wake up to, especially after such a stressful previous day. Despite how much her body actually ached and longed for more sleep, the girl found it hard to relax her body again, sighing. _'That bear really knows how to get the reactions it wants, huh..?'_

Slowly, her yellow eyes fluttered open, as she awoke to the lights of her room. It was still impossible to tell whether it was actually night or day, but she didn't decide to doubt the announcement from earlier. Still feeling sluggish from her terrible wake up, it took an enormous amount of effort for the girl to actually sit up on her bed. _'..I wasn't even under the covers.. I must have dozed off while thinking last night...' _she noted.

There wasn't any rush for her to actually get up, and so she spent a few moments trying to regain the energy in her body. With a yawn, she gradually stood up from her bed, stretching her arms above her head as she arched her back. Blinking, she looked around the bedroom, eyeing the cameras and bolted walls with suspicion. _'Yup. Definitely going to take some getting used to..'_

Letting her arms fall back down to her sides, the girl let out one final sigh before clearing her throat. "..m-man, I still can't believe I'm stuck in this place.." she spoke, though it came out as a mere whisper and crack of words. Her throat was exceptionally dry from all the screaming and sobbing she had done the previous day.

Haruki shook her head at the thought, not wanting to recall anything from the previous day. That would just bring her mood down even further, and maybe even drive her to say and do things she didn't wish to. "..I should go get a drink of something then.. maybe eat something. Now that it's on my mind, I'm actually kinda hungry.." Just as the words left her, she made a terrible realisation, eyes widening at the thought that reached her.

Immediately, her hands shuffled their way to her skirt's pockets. Internally she pleaded and pleaded as she hoped to find the object she was looking for, reaching as far into her pockets as they would allow. "Shit, no, please, don't do this to me..!" Feeling her heart pound in panic, she decided to turn her pockets inside out to make sure.

But there was nothing in there- her pockets were empty.

She didn't have any Pocky.

"Nooo...! How could you do this to meee...?"Haruki whined, falling onto her knees in defeat. "Come on, you've taken everything from me, even my precious snacks...you really are a monster, you know that..?" Comically, she continued to sniffle and whine like a little child. It just wasn't fair.

The longer she sat on the floor of her room, the more her stomach began to growl, reminding the red head of her original goal. Wearing a pout, she decided to end her childish tantrum before she began crying over her food legitimately. Standing up onto her shaking legs, she brushed her knees off, before placing her usual smile onto her face.

"Right.. There's a cafeteria here, so I should be fine!" she announced, turning around and heading out the door. To her surprise, there was no one out in the hallways at all. Whether it was because they had already left their rooms or hadn't gotten up yet she didn't know, nor did she care. Dismissing it without another thought, she pushed on, bouncing with each step she took closer to the cafeteria.

Walking through the cafeteria doors with her hands held behind her head, Haruki lightly hummed to herself. To anyone else it would have seemed like she was in her usual upbeat mood, but really, she just wanted to distract herself from any other thoughts. Haruki knew that if she didn't act like it or try to be happy, she wouldn't come to truly feel the emotion.

As soon as she realised she wasn't alone in the room though, she stopped, blinking as she ceased her humming. "Morning, you guys." she greeted, but she received no response. Tilting her head in confusion, she found her smile falling to a small pout as she spoke again, wondering why every one of the gathered females was staring her way. "Did I walk into some secret tea party or something?" she questioned.

"No, I don't believe so. I doubt any of us would hold a party in a place such as this, anyway." Sumireko responded, sitting at the head of the cafeteria table. It wasn't surpising, really. She was probably the one who ordered the other's to make her tea from the looks of things, as well.

"Right, okay~" The red head waved off, sending a smile the other girl's way.

"But all that aside, yes, good morning, Sagae-san." the other finally greeted.

"Took you long enough." she commented with a laugh. "Anyway. I hate to ask this in the middle of a conversation or whatever, but seeing as you're all having tea.. what food do they have here?" Haruki asked as she approached the trio sitting at the table, placing a hand on it's silver surface. She looked genuinely curious as the girls thought.

"There's an entire fridge and room full of it, so there's too much to list." Suzu informed with a smile, taking a sip of her steaming hot tea. She didn't seem effected by it's temperature and thoroughly enjoyed it's taste, so Sagae waved it off as a normal occurrence.

"Are you serious?" At the words, her yellow eyes almost shined as her gaze lightened. "Like, _really? _I was worried about this place being some trashy school with terrible cafeteria food, but wow. Is it actually all good food? It's not tins of cat food, or anything?" she began ranting, unable to contain her excitement. She could barely keep her drool from staying in her mouth at the thought of a room full of edible food.

"I can show you if you want, Sagae-san! The room's right over there." Nio directed, leaving her cup by her table as she stood from her seat.

"Yes please.." the other accepted, with all kinds of gratefulness showing on her features. "You're like a god, Nio-san, please show me to your heaven full of food..!" she joked as she followed the other blonde into a separate room.

It seemed the girls weren't lying when they said it was an entire room full of food. There were boxes and carts of different fruits, vegetables and other ingredients filling the place, as well as different cooking benches and devices in the centre. The fridge was almost as tall as Haruki was as well, and it's wide body was packed with different kinds of foods, some packaged and some fresh. "Aw man, this seriously is heaven, you guys are amazing for finding this jackpot..!" she exclaimed. Unable to help herself, she wrapped her arms around the shorter girl, ignoring her twitches and protests as she squeezed her.

"A-Aha, of course this seems like a jackpot to you, but there's no need for all that..!" she complained with a nervous laugh. "I guess we really are set for living here."

At Nio's words, the red head felt her body pause. She didn't want to live here at the school with everyone else, regardless of whether the living conditions were good or not. The only place she wanted to stay was at home, with the rest of her family, safe and sound..

Shaking her head, she released the other, keeping her wide grin on her face as she placed her hands on her hips. "I guess so, but that doesn't mean we're going to!" Gazing down at the other girl, she hid her worries behind her cheery expression as she continued. "We're going to get out of here, and that's that."

Nio nodded her head, smiling back just as wide.

_'..you really are unreadable sometimes Nio-san, you know that?'_

. . .

All of the girls had eventually gathered in the cafeteria and where basically hanging around doing nothing, when things started to go wrong. Everything seemed normal and enjoyable for once, when a certain short girl ran into the cafeteria, panting and catching her breath.

Haru was the first one to lift up her head and send her a glance, as her curiosity grew. "Hitsugi-chan? Did you come running here or something? You're really out of breath!" she pointed out as the bluenette nodded her head. She didn't dare meet the gaze of the other girl, or even lift her eyes from the floor. It was at this point where the pig-tailed girl noticed something odd about the situation, and tilted her head. "Say, where's Chitaru-san? Isn't she usually with you?"

This statement seemed to strike a nerve in the younger girl, and her head immediately snapped up to look at the other. Though Ichinose jumped in her seat at the sudden action, she didn't dare say another word. Everything about how Hitsugi was acting seemed very odd, even to the rest of the girls who happened to be watching the two.

"..that's what I.. came to tell you about." she responded, voice breathy from her lack of air. "She's locked herself in her room.. and won't come out.. no matter how many times I press the doorbell or knock on the door."

The words hung over the silent room, even though none of the girls were as concerned as they probably should have been. Breaking the silence with a smile and a few words, Haru shook her head, thinking like the optimist she was. "Ah, it's okay Hitsugi-chan. Here, I'll come with you and we'll get her out of there together, okay?" With a small nod of her head, the other girl said no more. Joining by her side with a small smile, Haru made sure to seem as friendly as possible as the duo left the cafeteria together.

However, like every other time, Haru hadn't prepared herself for the real situation at hand.

Even after they called at the top of their lungs, slammed themselves into the door, and pressed the doorbell over and over, not a single response came from inside Chitaru's room. She didn't want to admit it to the younger girl, but even Ichinose was growing worried for the girl inside. "She'll come out soon, I'm sure." she lied with a smile, not wanting Hitsugi to worry anymore than she already was.

As half the day passed though, even Hitsugi began to doubt the other's words.


	6. Chapter 06

**Chapter 06: Kill and Live- (Not) Normal Arc Part II**

* * *

Midway through their day, Hitsugi and Haru still received no response from Chitaru's room. With the rules of the school in the back of their minds and unease settling in, they gathered the rest of the reluctant girls in front of the other's room.

They wanted to make sure Chitaru was safe, however..

* * *

"..so you want me to break down this door?" Haruki blinked, voice full of confusion at the sudden request. The shorter bluenette nodded her head, allowing her small pigtails to whip about her worry-filled face.

"If you can do that, then please.. it's been long enough and I'm really worried for Chitaru-san.." Hitsugi continued to explain, earning a frown from the taller girl. She shot a nervous glance at the red door before placing a hand to her hip, looking back down at the other girl amongst the large group.

"Well, I guess we are kinda are, but.. do I _have _to break it down?" she repeated. The hand that was already placed on her side fumbled about her skirt until it slid into her pocket, pulling out her personal PDA that she carried with her. "I mean, isn't that against the rules here, or something..?" And just for confirmation, she scrolled through the tabs of the advanced device, pulling up the school's rules. As she flicked through the rules before her, the saddened look of the younger girl went unnoticed.

Not by all, however. Placing a hand atop Hitsugi's head, Haru gave a small smile, almost as if she had taken Chitaru's place for the moment. She hadn't left the other's side ever since they exited the cafeteria, and she didn't intend to until this issue had been resolved. Easing at the touch, Kirigaya let out a small sigh, eyes falling to the floor. "It says it right here." Haruki continued, displaying the screen in her hands to the other.

_'12: You are forbidden from destroying locked doors.'_

"I don't think I want to risk it, with that _beary _creepy headmaster watching over us." She wasn't sure if it was because she was talking to Hitsugi, because she needed to lighten the mood or because it was just her style, but Haruki couldn't hold back from letting that terrible joke slip from her smirking lips. No one seemed very impressed though, to her dismay, and she was left to break the silence with a nervous laugh. "..b-but seriously. Can't you just.. get her key, or something? Or is it inside the room?"

Pondering, Hitsugi paused, lifting her gaze from the ground and aiming it at the ceiling above their heads. "Actually, I don't know where her key is. It might be in there, it might not." A wave of sighs erupted from the group at the uncertain response. It was easy to tell that none of them really wanted to be there, but they couldn't really argue otherwise.

"So should we look for it over the area of this _entire damn school, _or should we give up?" Isuke impatiently asked, raising an unamused eyebrow. It was also clear that she wanted to get things moving; over and done with as soon as possible.

"I don't.. know.." the shorter replied, suddenly becoming ridden with nerves at all the gazes her way. At least she couldn't see just how bored and uninterested the majority of them were- that would have made her feel worse.

"Hmm.. well.. it wouldn't really hurt to give this floor a quick check-over, would it?" was the response that came from the glasses-wearing brunette. She seemed to be one of the only girls actually wearing a smile and showing any level of concern for the other assassin. "There aren't many places to check, anyway.. only really the AV room, other dorm rooms, maybe the cafeteria and whatnot.." she continued.

"If you really want to make us search that badly, we can split up into the groups we first searched this place in, and go over those respective areas again." the other glasses-wearing explained. It seemed to be the only logical idea, and none of the other girls could really object or complain to it. With a nod of her head, Hitsugi agreed to the idea. "Alright. Hopefully you all remember who you were grouped with and I don't need to remind you. For the next few minutes, we'll split up and search for Namatame-san's keys. I suppose we can meet up here when we've finished or if we find them.." she continued, looking amongst the scattered group. "Any questions?" But the silence she received was all she needed in response. "Good. Let's get to it then."

. . .

_'Why do we all have to search for Namatame's damn keys?' _Tokaku thought, wandering through the tiled hallways. _'It has nothing to do with us, and yet they drag us into their search? This is ridiculous... I want nothing to do with this, but I can't just sit out, can I?' _Ignoring the skipping and talking of the other two females behind her, the bluenette pushed on. _'Talk about an unfair, useless waste of time.'_

"Tokaku-san?" The innocent sounding voice interrupted the other's train of thought, and she found herself habitually glaring at the figure beside her. Haru seemed to be used to it though, as the smile on her face only widened at the sight. "What are you thinking about?"

Azuma rolled her eyes at the question- it was almost as useless and ridiculous as searching for someone else's keys. Despite this, she didn't want to completely brush off the other as she usually would feel. "Nothing." she bluntly stated.

"It's not nothing, you were staring into space, Tokaku-san!" the other corrected, holding onto Hitsugi's hand instead. The smaller girl stayed silent as she listened to the others' converse, wishing she could hold a conversation like that with the red head she missed.

"Okay, then it's none of your business." Tokaku explained, earning a pout from the other as the trio walked into the cafeteria.

"That's mean, you know.. I was just curious as to what you were thinking so hard about..!"

"Too bad. You don't need to know, Ichinose. Let's just get this search over with." _'It's not like we have the biggest area to explore, or anything. Nope. Because this is all totally fair and we all care so, so much..' _she continued in her mind, holding her tongue to stop the harsh, sarcastic words from actually being said out loud.

Unable to really argue any further, Haru sighed, pout still remaining on her teenage face. "Fine.."

And so, returning to the search was exactly what the trio did. The clock displayed in the cafeteria told them that at least ten minutes had passed since the trio fell silent, doing nothing but look under and over every area in the room. It was one of the first rooms they had really entered and began to search, but nothing seemed to come of it.

"..hmm.. nothing seems to be here, Tokaku-san, Hitsugi-chan.." Haru deduced with a disappointed sigh. "I guess you can't expect too much from the cafeteria though, huh..?"

Lifting her head from the floor, Hitsugi opened her mouth to voice a reply, but was rudely interrupted by another's, calling out from across the room.

"Well, what do you know, I seem to have luck in finding things.."

Hearing the words gained both of the girls' attention, causing the pigtailed duo to instantly look Tokaku's way. Haru's eyes were shining with a hopeful light while Hitsugi's expression remained as blank as ever, the only difference being at the faster pace at which her eyes blinked. "Seriously, Tokaku-san?!" Ichinose called out, running over to the crouched bluenette's side.

With a sigh, the other picked up the jingling object from underneath the main table. "Seriously.." she confirmed, holding it by it's name tag in front of Haru's face. Since her pink eyes were glued to the single key and her face was sparkling, the other girl closely resembled a dog- a realisation that actually amused Tokaku. She didn't dare say it though as she dropped the key into Haru's open hands, eyes following it accordingly.

"Looks like it wasn't in her bedroom after all..!" she announced, turning around to meet Kirigaya's curious eyes. Holding it up into view, she rattled the key against the metal name tag. "Looks like we can go and check on Chitaru-san now, and make sure she's alright." she concluded with a giggle.

Hitsugi nodded. _'I sure hope she's alright..'_

. . .

Everyone of the girls had gathered around Chitaru's dorm room once more, all awaiting for one thing, and one thing only.

"Well, Tokaku-san, you can do the honours since you found it to begin with~!" Nio suggested with her usual warped smile, seeming to be thoroughly enjoying herself. The situation was full of suspense as the rest of the girls kept silent, all staring as the blunette made her way through the crowd and up to the door. It would have been unnatural for the blonde to not be enjoying herself.

Wearing her permanent glare, the bluenette held the keys in her hand. "Fine, fine.." she brushed off with a sigh. _'I don't get what's so important about opening a damn door anyway. Anyone here can do it, why does it have to be me?' _She wasn't about to waste her time arguing on something so small, and reluctantly brought up the key, inserting it into the door's lock and twisting.

_Click._

It responded with a firm snap of the lock mechanism, at which the girl dismissed. Her neutral expression didn't change or waver- nor did her concern for the situation at all. "Happy now? I unlocked the door. Now you can walk in and do whatever you please." she responded, giving a small twist of the free knob with her empty hand.

Walking into the room with a scowl, she weakly called out for the other girl. "Chitaru-san? Where have you-" But her feet brought herself to an abrupt stop as soon as she stepped into the quiet dorm room, alone. The rest of the girls couldn't see anything over Tokaku's figure, as she was blocking every visible part of the room.

"What? What is it? What's wrong..?" Nio pushed, with a curious frown upon her face. She received no response whatsoever, which increased the interest of the rest of the assassins standing by in the hallway. For Hitsugi however, this meant she felt her heart sink in her chest, and a terrible sense of dread.

Tokaku's body froze. Her eyes were wide and her mouth sat ajar as she stared and stared at the scene before her, allowing a twisted, new sense of horror to take over her body. "..W-What.. the hell.. _is this..?" _she choked, through her deep breaths. She wasn't prepared for the sight that sat before her in the slightest.

"Tokaku-san, you can't have the sight all to yourself, let us see already..! What's Chitaru-san doing?" the blonde behind her continued, oblivious to what was actually going on behind the door. Tokaku just shook her head, clenching her teeth and fists together by her sides.

"..nothing." By the time Tokaku worked up a reply, a chill ran down her spine at the words- only because they rang of nothing but the undeniable truth.

No one seemed to catch wind of what she was trying to say except for Hitsugi.

Pushing through the wave of doubting and curious looks of the girls, the bluenette weaved past them all, eyes wide. "C-Chitaru-san.. wait, that doesn't mean..!" Not bothering to finish, she pushed the door open further, slipping into the room and standing next to Tokaku. Now the door was wide open for anyone to enter the room, and it wasn't long before Nio actually joined them in the doorway.

"Guys, don't just stand around in the door like that, I'm sure she doesn't appreciate.. staring..." But as her red orb's came into contact with the sight as well, she found her pace and mind slowing. "..oh..that's what you're staring.. for.."

An eerie silence took over the entire group as the three stared and stared. Hitsugi was on the verge of tears, unable to believe her eyes as the other two observed in silence, not wanting to say another word.

In front of them was Chitaru, sitting up against the back wall on her bed- doing nothing. With her mouth open, eyes closed, and blood seeping from the back of her head and dripping down her neck, she was indeed doing nothing. She wasn't even breathing any more.

That's when a certain voice played through the television speakers of the school, shocking through the girls' bodies.

_'Ding dong, dang dong! A body has been found. After a set period of free time, we will commence the classroom trial!'_

There was only one sentence that was needed to put them on edge- or for most, to catch their interest.

_A body has been found._

"..you three. Get out of the doorway." Without warning, the daughter of the Hanabusa corporation also pushed past the crowd, passing the first three to enter the room. She wasn't phased by the situation at all, seeming like one of the most calm of the group as she approached the motionless body. As they were instructed, the first three moved from the doorway- Tokaku and Nio followed Sumireko's lead and stood beside the bed, while Hitsugi was the first one to bolt out of the room and back into the hallway.

Now that there was space for the rest to enter, all of the assassins did so without much hesitation. This being said, Haru didn't make a move, instead turning to Hitsugi with a concerned and torn expression. "H-Hitsugi-chan.." she forced, unable to pinpoint exactly what the pounding of her heart meant. "Is.. what the headmaster said.. true?"

The sight of a lifeless Chitaru had been burned into the smaller's mind, and she felt no tears or sadness whatsoever with the longer she thought about it. Instead, a dark shadow seemed to seep onto her expression and her thoughts, and she found a deep frown on her face as she stared off into the distance. "..Hitsugi-chan?" Haru pushed, unsettled by the sudden change of mood.

It seemed Kirigaya didn't hear the other even speak, too absorbed in her own world to care for what was going on any more. _'This means.. this place is for real.. isn't it..? There's no going back any more, there's no doubting any more, is there..?' _she thought, feeling emptiness take over her. _'..people here are going to kill each other to get out. That's it, that's whats going to happen, isn't it? Someone.. someone else here killed Chitaru-san. She's dead. Dead. Someone killed her. Someone else. Someone here, someone is the killer of Chitaru-san.. and now I'm alone. Alone. All on my own here. With killers that I can't trust. All of them. I'm going to die here, because Chitaru-san died here. Chitaru-san's gone.. she's gone.. she's already.. gone..'_

Her mind constantly replayed the same kind of thoughts over and over, similar to a broken tape recorder. Hitsugi couldn't do anything about it either, sitting along for the ride and listening to every monotone word that resounded in her internal voice, ignoring everything else.

"Hitsugi-chan..." Ichinose whimpered, but she still didn't gain the other's attention. Instead, Hitsugi walked past the other girl, not even recognising her existence in the hallway as she stormed off to her dorm room without another word. The older could only sit in silence and watch, unease intensifying as the figure disappeared into her room. "..t-this can't be serious.. this _can't _be happening..."

Meanwhile, inside Chitaru's bedroom, another conflict was taking place.

Nio's sturdy hand fell from the body's wrist with a sigh, looking back amongst the crowded group of girls. It was hard to fit 10 girls into one bedroom, especially with the way they were all standing around the crime scene, but none of them could argue. "Nope. No pulse or response whatsoever. Namatame Chitaru really is dead." she announced, somehow making news like that sound as innocent as anything else.

Besides Mahiru's permanently worried one and Otoya's shining one, all of the assassins looked over the corpse and scene with unreadable, blank expressions. It wasn't the first time they had seen death, so there wasn't a need to treat this any differently just because they knew the victim. For most of them, it wasn't the first time someone close to them had died either, murdered or not.

"Hmm.. alright.. so I'm guessing if we have to go through that classroom trial sometime soon, then we should conduct an investigation?" Kouko questioned, folding her arms over her chest in an idle manner. The other blonde nodded her head, letting her ahoge bounce upon her head.

"'Guess so. If we want to point our finger at the right culprit and save ourselves, then that would be the logical thing to do. Remember what Monokuma said. If we put the blame on the wrong person, then.." she responded, standing from the crouching position beside the body she had taken.

"We know that's the case, so we should try our best not to contaminate or tamper with the scene." Shiena interrupted, knowing full well of the words to come. _'If we put the blame on the wrong person, then we'll all be punished. Executed, in other words.. every single one of us..'_

"Why don't we get a few of us to stand by as guards, or something? They can standby and survey the investigation going on in here while the rest investigate other places.." Haruki suggested, internally hoping she got assigned this job. It wasn't like the corpse bugged her- it was more like she was uncomfortable standing around doing nothing about it.

"..that sounds reasonable. Should we leave the numbers for that job on one, or have numerous?" Sumireko responded. "We might not be able to trust one single person, and we can't overload the investigation.. but then again, we can't have too little, either."

Pausing for them to ponder, the room fell under a harsh silence once more.

"..three?" The criminal from across the room suddenly suggested through the silence. "What about three people~? That's a good number." Otoya had to admit, investigating a crime scene made her feel more like those rotten detectives than the serial killer she was, but if it was to save her own life, it couldn't be helped.

None of the girls seemed to object, and so, not wanting to waste time, the next job was to assign that job to three of the girls. "Okay.. if everyone actually agrees with that idea, then we should assign people to that role as quickly as we can. Who knows how long Monokuma will allow us to use this free time.." Suzu pushed, tugging on her pink tie as she spoke.

With a sigh, Haruki wasn't about to sit around wait, instead fumbling with the PDA in her hand as she spoke up. "Fine.. since the rest of you seem to have the brains for the hard part, I'm willing to stand by. We'll still need two more people though."

"Shiena-chan and I will gladly do iiiiiiit~!" The raven from earlier called out, wearing her goofy smile without even asking the brunette for her consent. She was clearly, extremely upset at this outburst, and was glaring from behind her glasses at her former roommate.

"W-What? Don't just go deciding things on your own like that, maybe I don't _want _to be on guar-"

"Alright, that settles it, nice and easy. Sagae, Takechi, Kenmochi; you'll be staying in this room in the meantime." The short-haired bluenette from earlier interrupted, not even batting an eye at the fuming Shiena from across the room. She was even wearing a pout and had clenched fists by her sides.

"_Hey,_ I didn't agree to this, don't just-"

"Oh hell, this thing's got a new tab now..!" Sagae cut off again, earning an unnoticed growl from the brunette. She was too busy gazing at the PDA screen in her hands to care for the gazes she was receiving, or the constant complaining of Kenmochi in the background.

"..this is all _your _fault, Otoya-san..!" she whined, but even the raven wasn't paying attention to her. "Don't ignore me..!"

"Wait, there's more interesting stuff on here..?" Takechi spoke aloud, reaching into her own skirt pocket to pull her PDA out. Surely enough, just like the red head stated, there was a new tab of information on the screen, named 'Monokuma Files.'

"Don't leave us in the dark here Haruki, what are you talking about..?" Isuke finally contributed, raising an eyebrow at her shocked, former roommate.

"I'm not, you can check it for yourself.. There's a tab called 'Monokuma Files' on here, and well.. It's got information you might want to see, guys." Seeing as her voice was sincere, the girls all pulled out their PDA's, scrolling through the Monokuma Files.

Mahiru was the first one to let out a small gasp, that still caught everyone's reaction in a nutshell. "I-Information on the m-murder.." she whispered, though still audible to the rest of the female group. Everyone stared at the monochrome profile of Chitaru before them in disbelief, reading the paragraphs of information with new interest.

_'Case 01:_

_The victim is Namatame Chitaru._

_The corpse was found in Namatame Chitaru's dorm room._

_Estimated time of death is 10:20 PM._

_The victim died on her bed._

_Although there is a wound on the back of her head that indicates she was struck with something blunt, suffocation seems to be the cause of death.'_

"It seems we don't have all that much _to _investigate if it's all here, huh..?" Tokaku pointed out, scrolling through the information without lifting her eyes to the others.

"There's no use waving it off like that. If there isn't more to discover, we wouldn't be given this free time before the trial, now would we?" Kouko was quick to notice, taking every detail the group had learnt into consideration.

"I guess not.." the bluenette replied with a frustrated sigh. All this talk about investigating, murder and culprits was a handful to take in so suddenly, even if she was a trained assassin.

"Look here for a moment. It says the time of death is 10:20 PM." The only orange-haired girl pointed out, staring at her screen. "I can only assume that a small portion of us were actually awake or outside of our rooms at this time.. since I detest wasting time, I say we can begin our investigation there, finding out who was where at that time." Her deductions seemed quite sound, and not a single assassin decided to object. "Some of us can stay here and look at the scene, while others go around gathering testimonies and statements. Sound like a plan?"

The rest hummed in agreement.

"Good. Then this marks our investigation's start. Get to it."

* * *

**A/N: I'm not sorry for character deaths by the way, heh. c:**

**On another note, I didn't expect this to get as much attention as I'm currently getting, but I'm not about to complain..! **

**I'll hopefully see you all again in the next chapter~!**


	7. Chapter 07

**Chapter 07: Kill and Live- (Not) Normal Arc Part III**

* * *

Soon after finding Namatame Chitaru's dorm keys, Tokaku and the others enter her room, only to find her dead body sitting inside. Hitsugi is quick to flee the scene, returning to her room alone as the other assassins discuss amongst themselves.

Their investigation then began.

* * *

Compared to the rest of the buzzing and concentrated assassins, it seemed that Haruki, Otoya and Shiena all had quite boring jobs indeed. While the latter two could hold casual conversation between themselves, it wasn't as fulfilling or time passing as investigating was. _'Maybe I shouldn't have volunteered myself for this, after all..?' _Haruki thought with a sigh. Watching over others sure was boring sometimes.

Tokaku had already left the room completely by this point, making it her goal to make sure Haru was okay, before interviewing the other assassins. Because she had left without a word of warning, Suzu and Kouko remained oblivious to the fact that they too had left the room for the same reason- minus the consideration for Haru, of course. None of them were really on good terms with the other girl, but it wasn't like any of them wanted to be.

That left Isuke with the decision to do whatever job she pleased, whether it be stick around and investigate or interview the others- but of course, being the hard-to-please female she was, she chose her own position. With a scoff and a wave of her hand, she folded her arms in front of her chest, announcing her thoughts aloud. "My, I couldn't care less for the situation at hand right now.. to my room I go~" Not caring for whoever was listening- which happened to be no one- she did exactly that, strutting from the room with a click of her heels as she headed to her room.

With everyone else either on guard or outside of the room, that in turn left what was later dubbed the 'investigative trio' in their own little world, comprising of only the crime scene before their eyes. This observational group was made up of Nio, Sumireko, and Mahiru, who was reluctantly forced into staying at the scene.

"Alright Nio, what have you found?" Sumireko's firm voice rung out, catching the attention of the other blonde. If her hands weren't busy cupping Chitaru's head and examining the wound left there, she would have thrown a glance the other girl's way.

"Hmm.. a lot of dried blood, that's for sure." she joked with an innocent smile, somewhat unfitting for the horror-filled atmosphere. "Back of her skull's been done in, and there's a whole trail of blood coming from it. There's nothing wrong with her neck besides the blood dripping down from her head, and the pinkish marks around it."

Listening to the other's report, Sumireko placed a hand on her chin. She stared at the body, trying to make sense of all the information, even if there wasn't much to begin with. "So in other words, what that Monokuma File explained was correct..?" The other nodded.

"I suppose so~!" she responded, too light-hearted for her own good. "The marks on her neck point to a suffocation, and the wound on her head is there. Besides that, the only thing that seems to be of significance is the blood also on the back of the wall here. See?" Surely enough, just as Nio had pointed out, above the end of Chitaru's bed on the wall was a stain of dried blood. The orange-haired girl nodded her head in understanding.

Just because the conversation had begun to die out, Mahiru saw this as a chance to finally try and speak up for herself. "U-Um, but.. it.. d-doesn't say what she was hit with, does it..?" she questioned, holding her PDA in her hands as she scrolled through the information. This piece of information was indeed missing from the file, but didn't serve as a problem- it only meant that the group had more to investigate. The job wasn't completely finished yet.

One glance at the crime scene was enough for the Hanabusa daughter to come up with a reasonable explanation. If anyone else had stated that question, she might have even scolded them for being so blind and oblivious, but instead bit her tongue before speaking. She wasn't about to snap at the other girl. "No, it doesn't say what she was struck with, but it's quite obvious anyway." At least, to Sumireko it was obvious. Mahiru still didn't seem to be following. "..here, I'll replicate what I think happened for you."

Taking a few steps closer to the bedside, Sumireko eyed the body before letting out a small sigh. Her head was propped up on the bed's head, and the rest of her body was lying across the mattress. It wouldn't be that difficult a task to move it even just a little, especially with her artificial arms. Making sure to avoid touching her neck or the back of her head, the girl then placed her hands on Chitaru's temples, lifting her head up. Then, gently, she tapped her head against the wall behind her, connecting the wound with the blood stain. "There doesn't seem to be anything wrong with her forehead or face, so I can only assume she was pushed into the wall like this. Make sense?"

Watching with wide, blinking eyes, the other nodded her head. It seems Nio was also watching from the other side of the bed, as she was first to respond to the other's explanation. "And if that's really what happened, then I'm guessing she was sitting up on the bed prior to being struck, and taken by surprise? I'd be hard to hit her head like that otherwise."

"..seems like it. Since it would be foolish to strangle someone and _then _strike them, I'd say that was the first blow that was meant to take out Chitaru-san, but after that failed, the killer resulted to some kind of suffocation..?" Sumireko assumed, reviewing the facts the group had found in her mind to make sure her theory was sound.

"So the killer came into the room, and Chitaru didn't feel threatened, as she was sitting on her bed. Taking this advantage, the killer decided to strike, slamming her head into the wall, but she didn't die, so they strangled her instead..? It sounds right to me." The blonde responded, scanning over the body once more. With a sigh Mahiru gave up on making conversation- the other two seemed to be too immersed in it as it was, and there was no point in interrupting.

Sumireko nodded. "Then that brings about another question, doesn't it?" she began, sending a glance around the rest of the untouched room. "What was she strangled with..?"

"Wow, you read my mind, Hanabusa-san! That's something we'll have to find out, huh?"

"I suppose.. Well, since we apparently have time to spend doing so, why don't you move her hair out of the way? Look closer into it." Just as the other commanded, Nio gave an obedient salute, pushing all of Chitaru's hair from her neck without any sign of hesitation. Now the trio could observe the strange markings in closer detail- which is exactly what they proceeded to do.

"You got it." she quickly responded as the job was finished. Deciding to focus on observing in silence rather than conversing, the group soon fell silent- that is, besides Mahiru's quiet and inaudible whispering to herself. She looked quite insane talking to herself with such wide eyes, but the other two dismissed it as easily as the three guards' presence in the room.

"Doesn't look like there are any visible finger-shaped marks or anything here." Nio pointed out, seeming to take the words right out of Sumireko's mouth.

"Yes.. now that you mention it, it looks quite neat. There aren't any bumps or breaks, it's just one thick, red line."

"Sooo... the killer used another object to suffocate Chitaru-san, and not their hands?"

"That seems to be the case, we just have to figure out what that other object is. Nio-san, is there anything else that could be used for such an act in this room?"

But instead of Nio's voice, Mahiru was the one to quickly respond, catching both of the girls off guard. "I already checked the bathroom in this room too. Everything was normal and nothing can be used." Her firm yet quiet voice caused the room to fall silent for a few moments, before Sumireko comprehended the information and spoke up once more.

"Right.. that makes things a little difficult then, doesn't it..?" With her voice void of all emotion besides disappointment, it had almost seemed as if the girl had given up hope in finding this mystery item. She might have even dropped the subject completely if it weren't for the last girl of the three pointing out a vital detail that the others seemed to have overlooked.

"Wait a moment, have a look here." she began, pointing her finger towards Chitaru's neck once more. Her fingernail was almost brushing against the other's cold skin as she directed the other duo's attention. "There's blood dripping _aaaall _the way down here, to her neck. If the blunt blow was dealt first before the suffocation, then that would mean this object would have at least a little blood on it, right?"

Sumireko blinked. With the image of the scene she had in her head, the other's theory seemed to fit in perfectly- almost too perfectly. "Huh.. looks like you've raised a good point there, Nio-san. Well done." she praised, though the other blonde couldn't tell whether it was sarcastic or not. She gave a nervous laugh nonetheless. "I believe we've searched every area in this room and there was nothing of the sort in here.. so either the killer's taken this item with them, disposed of it, or we've missed it completely."

The group thought and thought for a few minutes, looking around the room, trying to piece everything together and find the next lead. If it weren't for Mahiru's quiet chanting and whispering, the atmosphere would have become extremely thick and still.

"..looks... li.. ca..et bu.." she muttered, staring straight at the red marks. "..it r..lly.. ks.. pe..rn. Really, re..." After with standing a few minutes of her constant whispering, Sumireko's patience had fallen and been taken over by her curiosity, and couldn't sit still any longer.

"What's that, Mahiru-san..?" she questioned. Her voice seemed to shock the white-haired other, and she jolted upright in her stance, before snapping her head to look at the other girl, worry showing all over her expression.

"A-Ah, nothing, nothing, ignore me..!" she covered up. The other didn't seem to be buying it however, as she raised an eyebrow.

"No, you've been talking to yourself for a while.. what's on your mind..?" the other pushed, but it only seemed to shake Mahiru more.

"I..It's nothing.. just continue on with your investigation.."

"It's not nothing if you've been chanting it over and over to yourself for that long." Mahiru jumped again, seeming to be caught off guard by the other's deductive abilities- even if it didn't take that much skill to listen to another's voice. She still found it sharper than she would have liked.

"B-But really, its nothing..!" Sumireko just continued to stare at the other girl at the repeated response she gave, raised eyebrow still in place as she blinked slowly. After a while, it almost became intimidating, especially with the silence filling the room. Mahiru's nerves only grew more wild, and eventually she couldn't keep it in. "O-Okay fine, I, um.. I just thought.." she began, fumbling for the right words. The other girl tilted her head in a friendly manner, but she didn't seem to notice, too busy staring at the body before her with watering eyes. "I just thought.. t-that.. the marks kind of.. looked like a carpet burn."

Mahiru tightly squeezed her eyes shut, preparing herself for the scolding, insults, or correction that was bound to come- but it never did. By the time she gained courage to open her eyes and look at the other two, both of their eyes were glued in fascination at Chitaru's neck. She couldn't help frowning, confused by it all. "...w-w..what..?"

"So then, taking that into consideration.." The other two seemed to already be muttering to each other, nodding and discussing amongst themselves with focused eyes. Mahiru only caught a few words from each of them, and it definitely wasn't enough to piece together their sentences or their conversation.

"Yup, pretty much. That just means..."

"Seems... ... the object has to be made of a fabric." At those last words, the clueless girl finally caught wind of the conversation, but it was quickly brought to an end.

"Nice one. A blood coated fabric that's width is smaller than a human neck, able to be wrapped and taken with you anywhere you go. I'd say that's a pretty narrowed down search!" Nio exclaimed with a peace sign, satisfied with the results the trio had obtained from their investigation. Sumireko nodded along with the words, before turning her body and attention to the white-haired girl beside her.

A light pink tint took over her cheeks as she gazed at the other girl, taking her hands in her own as she smiled. "You've been a big help, Mahiru-san. Thank you."

Nio yawned, looking over the pair of girls before her, before glancing to the pair of bickering assassins across the room. _'Man, there they go again; everyone's having their little lovey-dovey moments today and leaving some of us out, huh?' _she joked, giggling to herself. Maybe if the other was paying attention, Haruki would have seen the sympathetic look the blonde sent her way.

. . .

Meanwhile, Suzu and Kouko had slipped their way into Hitsugi's room. It had taken a few minutes of convincing and cheering up for them to finally be let in and begin their questioning, but it was surely worth it- the younger girl was a prime suspect after all, even if the other two hadn't been informed of the investigation's results.

The group of three were now gathered on Hitsugi's bed, sitting along the edges of the mattress. "So, it says here the time of death was 10:20 PM.." Kouko began, pulling out the Monokuma Files in front of her for a reference. "..you might not want to think about it, but please answer with full honesty. Where were you at this time?"

The bluenette thought in silence, allowing no words to leave her mouth as she held the pink teddy bear in her hands. Her small body was still shaking from unease and her head felt clouded and cluttered, but she wasn't about to turn down the other two girls. She had to think, had to be of use, had to help them find out who killed her Chitaru..

"..I didn't keep track of time," she began, voice unstable and weak. "But I'm sure I was in my room then, by that time.."

. . .

"Well, that looks like about everyone." was what Suzu pointed out, walking beside her former roommate with a bounce in her steps. The raven didn't seem to be able to match the other's amount of visible amusement with the situation, looking just about as neutral and unamused as ever as the two walked to a certain dorm room. "We've collected statements from every single person."

"Indeed." the other brushed off, not one for conversation. They spent a few minutes afterwards doing nothing but walk through the corridors of the strange school before another conversation was started up- but even then, it didn't last very long. "Hey, Suzu?" she spoke up suddenly, earning the attention she wanted.

"Ah? Yes, what is it?" she responded, blinking.

"This whole murder mystery ideal.. kill and graduate.. do you think it's the real deal?" The sudden question was unexpected, and the other girl couldn't help widening her eyes. Before she could get a word out from her thoughts out loud, the other girl continued, not sparing a glance the bluenette's way. "And.. if so.. then who do you believe is the culprit?"

The two shared a moment of silence again as they walked the corridors- Kouko merely waited for her response, as Suzu spent time pondering on one.

"I'm really not sure, Kouko-san.." she gently responded, giving a small smile. "It's a little early to say, but if I had to take a wild guess with all the information we've gathered.. I'd say it's likely to be Mahiru."

"..I see." The raven responded, gaze dimming as she re-adjusted her glasses.

. . .

The duo soon reached the dorm room where they knew the majority of assassins were gathered, pressing the doorbell as they awaited a response from within. They hadn't spoken much since their last conversation abruptly ended, but the silence didn't bug either of them particularly much. In fact, Suzu and Kouko had grown so used to it that when the door in front of them swung open, neither were prepared.

"Hm? Oh, Suzu-san, Kouko-san, you're back again." Haruki greeted for the second, with an innocent grin. She had been the first one inside the room to rush to the door at the bell, too ridden with boredom to afford standing around any longer. "What do you need? More statements from us?"

"Ah, no, nothing like that. We'd like to request something else instead." Suzu was quick to inform, allowing the girl beside her to stand in silence. The girl from inside the room tilted her head, allowing her red hair to fall along with the motion as she blinked.

"Which is..?"

"Just a quick information exchange, that's all. I think it'd benefit everyone if we shared our findings early like this." the other continued, placing her hands behind her back. The older girl nodded, before sending a quick glance over her shoulder. None of the others seemed to argue or want these two to leave, so Haruki wasn't about to send them away.

"Sure thing. You.. do know that not everyone's in here, right?" she reminded, opening the door wider and moving from the doorway to allow the two females in. As Suzu continued, they willingly entered the room, allowing Haruki to close the door behind them.

"Yes, we know." The other responded, and along with Sagae, stood around the room and joined the rest of scattered assassins around the room. The new comers didn't seem to mind the sight or scent of the corpse in the room, and acted as if it wasn't there to begin with. "So anyway, what did your investigation turn up with? Find any new clues or leads..?" Suzu questioned, looking over the crime scene.

"Who do you think you're speaking to? Of course we found new evidence." Sumireko quickly spoke back, letting out a huff of air. She seemed to be offended by the statement, taking pride in her deduction and investigative abilities.

"A-Ah, right.." The bluenette fumbled, rubbing the back of her head. "What did you.. find?"

Gaze directed at scattered places around the room, the orange-haired girl didn't bother making eye contact as she spoke, each word flowing as if she had been preparing this speech for minutes beforehand. "Besides the obvious answer of 'we found the corpse', we found evidence supporting the Monokuma Files. There is, indeed, a bleeding wound on the back of Chitaru-san's head, indicating she was struck with something blunt. If you want me to get straight to the point, then I'll say now, we've deduced she was slammed into the back wall. That's why the bloodstain is present." She took a pause, making sure the other two were following- as well as the guards, who hadn't been informed of this earlier.

"Since Chitaru-san was first struck into the wall and remained alive, she was then strangled, leaving behind those marks on her neck. It seems this was not with bare hands, but with an object made of fabric. We haven't found this object yet, but are keeping our eyes open for it, just in case. The killer could have disposed of it or taken it with them. That about sums up our investigation."

Letting the room fall into a harsh silence once more, Sumireko finally finished, waiting as the rest of the girls comprehended the information. Kouko was, surprisingly enough, the first one to speak up once more, and bring noise back into the atmosphere. "And you're 100% sure of those theories?" she questioned.

Almost as if she was saving the other from wasting her breath, Nio decided to answer instead, knowing the facts just as well as Hanabusa did. "Just about as sure as it gets! I mean, all our theories are supported by the evidence anyway, so it's not like we made any of that up." she filled in. The other girl seemed to be satisfied with that, and said nothing more, allowing the silence to return.

Apparently not for long, however. "That's our share of information. What about you two? What did you find out?" Sumireko questioned, showing her curiosity for the others' search. "Hopefully you actually progressed and were of use." she added.

"Of course we did. It would be a waste of time if not, and we would have returned earlier." Kouko quickly stepped in, folding her arms over her chest. "We ended up questioning everyone and gathering statements, placing exactly who was where, and at what time." She paused. "Shall I continue?"

"Go ahead." The other girl responded, waiting patiently for the information to come.

"Alright then. Where should we start...?" the raven questioned, speaking to herself more than anyone else. She stopped to ponder and list all of the other girls in her mind, but before she could return to her explanation, Suzu took over without a warning.

"Here, I can explain. First of all, the murder occurred at 10:20PM, correct? This means, it happened 20 minutes after night time was announced. When the announcement resounded at 10:00 PM, a group of us headed straight for our dorms room from the AV Room. This included myself, Kouko-san, Shiena-san, Tokaku-san, Nio-san, Isuke-san, Haruki-san, and of course, Chitaru-san." she began explaining, recalling the statements that had been told to her in her mind.

"Now, starting with everyone else.. Otoya-san, you were busy in the infirmary at this time. Mahiru-san, you were still sitting in the AV Room, and Sumireko-san, you happened to stop by the cafeteria. You three were the only ones out of your rooms at 10:00 PM, but because the murder happened 20 minutes later, that doesn't make you the only suspects.

"Apparently, Hitsugi-san was inside Chitaru-san's room up until that announcement played. She needed to go to the restroom, and went and did so. However, she ended up getting lost and asking Haru-san for directions. Together, their trip around the school took five minutes, so it was 10:05 PM by the time they both returned to their own dorm rooms." Suzu looked around at the contemplating faces. "Tell me if I'm speaking too fast for you, okay..?"

She received a hum in agreement from the group. Before she could continue though, Sumireko stepped in, adding a statement of her own. "Just if anyone was wondering, I happened to have seen that duo heading to the bathroom and returning to their own dorms, so in a way, I can confirm that. Speaking of seeing people, I happened to see Otoya-san return as well..." she pointed out, leaving her sentence open for further debate or question.

"That'd be about right! I saw you too Sumireko, you were the only one outside your room~! I went to my room around 10:00 PM as well I think, so that would make sense!" Otoya confirmed from across the room, placing her hands on her hips as she beamed.

Suzu nodded along with the conversation. "Then, all of you returned to your rooms at the same time- 10:05 PM."

"Correct. I believe I reached my room the same time they did their's." she agreed with a nod of her head.

"Perfect." The bluenette added. "That makes things a lot easier to manage and calculate then, doesn't it? Anyway." she continued, before another familiar voice interrupted.

"Suzu, since you're going in chronological order, I have an idea I know what you're going to say next." Her former roommate stated, giving her a blank look. The other just tilted her head, giving an innocent frown, as if urging her to continue. "Your witness statement- or, rather 'hearing' statement, since you didn't witness anything."

Suzu was struck by the words, but soon giggled. "My, you really can read my mind sometimes, Kouko-san~!" With the rest of the girls left in the dark of their conversation, their curiosity began to grow. "You can explain the rest, then."

"Alright.." she accepted, taking a breath. "..well, Suzu heard a door locking from across the hall in the middle of the night- at around 10:20 PM approximately. We're not sure who's room it was exactly, but we can only assume that, given the facts, it was Chitaru's door. It fits perfectly with the time of murder, and no one returned to their room at this time for it to have been anyone else."

But before this fact could settle into the rest of the girls' heads, a certain sound rung out through the TV's and speakers, abruptly interrupting and ceasing their conversation.

_Diiiing, Doooong.. Diiiing, Doooong.._

An announcement.

_"I've grown tired of waiting. Shall we begin? The long-awaited Class Trial, that is! Please enter the red door in the school area of the first floor."_

And, because all of them knew there was no arguing or stalling to be done, they had no choice but to follow their headmaster's orders and head through those red doors.

. . .

Once the entire group of students had gathered again, silence held the thick atmosphere together as it hung above their heads- that is, except for the sound of chains working beneath them. The group stood scattered out, dreading what was to come as the elevator descended them towards the ground, and towards the courtroom that would decide their fates.

That's when the curtains finally opened on a do-or-die Class Trial.

* * *

**A/N: Gee, planning a murder is such a pain in the ass. orz**

**Hopefully you guys will enjoy what I've put together~ ;v;**

**Now because the holidays are over and school's returned, the updates will be quite slow, but I'll try my absolute best~! _**


	8. Chapter 08

**Chapter 08: Kill and Live- Not Normal Arc Part I**

* * *

After the girls' information exchange was abruptly interrupted by Monokuma's announcement, the group gathered behind the red doors on the first floor. Finding it to be an elevator, they rode down in silence, towards the courtroom.

That's where the first Class Trial of their lives began.

* * *

"Woah.." That gasp from Haruki was the first noise to reach the girls' ears as soon as the elevator doors opened, and the courtroom of Kibougamine Academy was first introduced to them. "Just how rich and fancy.. is this place?" the girl continued as the group looked around at their new surroundings. To say it was fancy was one of the only words to describe it- with 16 stands all lined up in a circle in the centre of the room, brightly coloured curtains bordering it, and a single, royal chair just nearby, the room looked like something right from a fictional book.

_"Upupu..!" _It only took a few seconds upon walking in for that familiar, warped voice to finally speak up again. Monokuma seemed to have already taken a seat in the only available chair, snickering as it held it's stomach. _"Well, this is the courtroom of your fates guys, whaddya think?"_ Though the other's responses weren't as joyful as the bear's, he didn't get a harsh silence for once. Most of the girls were, though they wouldn't admit it, actually impressed by the courtroom.

"I think it's grand, but I also think this trial needs to get over and done with already." Azuma snapped, not lifting an eyelid at the bear across the room. It merely continued to snicker, paws moving in front of it's twitching and uneven mouth.

_"Well, you're impatient. Alright! Take your places, there are name tags on the stands!" _Even if Monokuma didn't instruct them to, they would have taken their places anyway, standing behind each section of the circle in a formation- that is, all except for one person, which was of course the deceased assassin. Standing in Chitaru's place was a small stand, with her portrait on it. However, the photo was monochrome, and a crimson, blood-written 'X' crossed over it.

This wasn't about to go unnoticed by the rest of the girls, either. "..so, what's the point in that?" Shiena questioned, pointing a finger at the stand as she raised an eyebrow. She seemed to have read the rest of the groups' minds as most remained quiet, casting glances towards the headmaster sitting in it's chair.

_"Hm? It's a little unfair to not include people just because they're dead, isn't it? It's just there in her place!" _the bear explained. Although she had been given just under a day to comprehend and accept it all, Hitsugi still seemed to be in a state of denial, and her blank gaze dimmed further at the word 'dead'. The shadow over her face and half-lidded eyes made her look almost miserable as her body trembled on the spot, staring into space. Half of the assassins wished they could mind-read, just so they wouldn't have to ease their curiosity by trying to talk to the silent girl.

Isuke scoffed from behind her stand, idly twirling her hair in boredom. "If you ask me, it's unnecessary, not unfair." The bear seemed to send a glare her way, but since it didn't really have proper eyes, it was hard to tell.

_"But no one did ask you, Miss Inukai!" _It screeched, throwing it's paws up in the air as it's face turned beet red. Maybe that's what made it seem like it was glaring. _"But anyway! That's enough standing around for now, eh? We need to get this show on the road already! Get into some action!"_

"..but.. even if we 'get into the action', won't we still just be standing around?" Suzu pointed out, leaving the entire room- including Monokuma- blinking as they thought.

_"Huh. I guess you're right. Well whatever! No one cares for your details!" _The thing just dismissed her comment with a wave of it's arm, hushing the rest of the room. _"This is how the system works, you guys. Or girls, since you're all girls. You all can have time to discuss within yourselves the murder of Ms Namatame, and when you're all ready and decided, we'll cast a vote on who you think the culprit is!"_

"Just to clarify, then." Sumireko was quick to jump in, paying close attention to the exact way the principal worded their sentence. "You're saying it actually was one of us students who was responsible for the murder, and not you toying with us?"

The beat let out a crackling laugh, somehow managing to open half of it's smirking mouth as it did so. _"Of course it was! I would never ruin my own fun like that! It really was one of you guys. In fact, I bet the killer right now is pissing themselves as we speak. Bwahahaha!" _

Just as the words left the bear's mouth, the remaining assassins decided to take a look around them at the other girls in the room. However, as they soon found out, there were only two overall moods in the room- completely afraid, or strangely calm. No one was displaying an absurd amount of stress, and that was the first sign that this trial was going to be more difficult than originally expected.

_"Oooh, come on, I was just messin' with ya. You all look so collected and so professional.. maybe that's because you're all professional killers. Anyway! You're time here's a'wasting! Get to it, get to it!" _Monokuma continued to demand, impatiently tapping against the arms of it's chair. It seemed by that time, the rest of the girls had begun to reluctantly accept their place in the courtroom. There wasn't any getting out any time soon, and they didn't have any choice but to begin discussion- otherwise, they would all end up being executed, save for one guilty person.

"So, where exactly do we begin this discussion then?" Haruki happened to question, being the first one to break the awfully dark silence of the courtroom. It took a few moments of silence for the girl to actually receive any type of response from the entire group of assassins before her.

"Well, since we're going to be pointing fingers throughout this entire trial, going over the facts wouldn't hurt, would it?" Sumireko questioned, folding her arms in front of her chest.

"That'd be helpful. I'm sure I'm not the only one here who would be quite disappointed, having everything end here if we make the wrong decision." Nio quickly responded, shaking her head as she shrugged her shoulders. "After all, we didn't get to really finish that information exchange of our's, did we?" Her smile still seemed out of place in the dull room.

"No, I don't believe so." Kouko filled in, recalling the spot they had previously been interrupted at. Her explanation had been cut off due to the sudden announcement, so of course she was going to note it. She had just began to reach the important details too, but all the information would have to be revealed in the end, anyway.

"Should we get back to that? Inform everyone else that wasn't here?" The blonde from earlier asked, eyeing Tokaku and Hitsugi from her position behind the stand. She was clasping her hands behind her back as she did so, smile only widening across her amused face with the longer the trail went on.

"In that case, we might have to recap everything from beginning to end, covering all the pieces of information we know." Suzu suggested, eyes narrow and shining in the dimly lit room. All of their focused, sharp gazes were quite unsettling, but the only outsider present- Monokuma- wasn't phased at all.

Haruki sighed, wishing she could chew on a stick of Pocky to kill the time, and give her something to do other than talk and discuss. "I guess so. Anyone volunteering to go ahead and do that..?" The room fell silent for a moment. _'Well. I guess I can't blame them. This is all pretty boring after all, and explaining every single piece of information we know isn't much better.'_

"..fine." the bomb-using assassin gave in, adjusting the lenses sitting on her nose. "If no one else is up for it.." Seeing as this was indeed the case, and Kouko seemed to know the facts clearer than most of the others, no one objected.

"Alright then, Kouko-san. Go ahead." Kenmochi urged from the other end of the circular room, face void of all emotion.

"Right."

. . .

During their 20 minute discussion of the facts they held onto, the girls came up with a few points to summarise what had gone down that night.

_Chitaru Namatame was killed in her own dorm room, at 10:20 PM, yesterday. The killer seemed to have her trust, and thus the act of violence wasn't suspected. Though her head was pounded into the back wall and she was wounded, the real cause of death was suffocation. Mysterious burn marks, possibly from a carpet or fabric were left behind on her neck. The killer left the scene, locking the door behind her as she took Chitaru's keys. Having no where else to dispose of them, she carelessly placed them in the cafeteria the next morning._

_The majority of the group had returned to their dorm rooms at 10:00 PM, and never left until morning. The only people outside their rooms at the beginning of night time were Sumireko, Otoya, Mahiru, Haru, and Hitsugi._

_Hitsugi and Chitaru had been together in the latter's dorm room up until 10:00 PM when the announcement went off. The younger had to go to the bathroom, and left to do so on her own. However, she ended up getting lost, and turned to Haru for directions. After retrieving her from her dorm room, the two safely went to the school's restroom and returned to their dorms five minutes later- at 10:05 PM. The encounter made Hitsugi forget about Chitaru's situation, so she went to her own room, and slept._

_Mahiru was in the AV room alone, and recalled leaving the room and going to her bedroom at 10:25 PM. Everyone's doors were locked by this time, and no one else was outside of their rooms._

_Otoya was in the infirmary searching for more scissors and weapons that could be used at her disposal up until the night time announcement came at 10:00 PM. Hearing this, she was quick to return to her room. _

_Sumireko was investigating and making sure the announcement was truthful, checking out the cafeteria's locked doors at 10:00 PM. She confirms that she saw Haru and Hitsugi walk by and head straight to their rooms, and Otoya return to her room. She too, went to her room five minutes later, at 10:05 PM, having seen no one besides those outside the dorm area of the school. When she walked by, Chitaru's room was unlocked. _

_In other words, the door was unlocked at 10:05 PM and locked at 10:25 PM, meaning the killer was outside of their room, and slipped in and out of Chitaru's in between those times. Chitaru died at 10:20 PM, which also fits in with this fact._

_The sound of a locked door was heard at around 10:20 PM, presumably in the direction of Chitaru's room. Assuming this could only have been the killer's doing, that means the culprit immediately left the room after committing the murder, and returned to their room prior to 10:25 PM when Mahiru walked by._

"..that about sums up all of what we know, then." Kouko finished, heaving a tired sigh through her nostrils. Her throat was actually feeling quite dry, even with all the discussion and participation of the other girls. Not only had it been a handful to explain in a way that everyone understood, but it had been difficult to comprehend with all the different time slots they had to consider.

"But even so, isn't the culprit pretty obvious by now? From the start, even?" Isuke impatiently questioned, wearing a scowl on her face as she raised an eyebrow. It seemed she wasn't the only one in the room tired of all this talking and wasting of time.

"What do you mean..?" The raven questioned, swallowing.

"Hitsugi-san was the only one who has a motive here, and a real connection with the victim. She went into her room at 10:05 PM, went back out once Sumireko-san was gone, and killed her.. 'friend'. She went to the trouble of dropping them in the cafeteria early in the morning too, and acted all innocent and hurt to fool us. There, case closed." she explained, closing her eyes with a tired sigh. The room was left in silence for a few moments as the group thought amongst themselves.

The plan seemed almost too perfect to be true- and besides that, Hitsugi seemed fuming. "But I told you, it _wasn't me." _she spat, shadow hovering over her innocent-seeming face. Isuke didn't seem to care.

"So what? That's what they all say. Don't act like we don't know your true colours, _Hitsugi-san." _was her sharp reply, sending a grin in the direction of the younger girl. The bluenette only grit her teeth in response, looking away as Isuke continued to giggle at the sight.

"Isuke-san, I can see where you're coming from, however.." Sumireko stepped in, earning an immediate glance from Hitsugi.

_'She's.. defending me..? There's no way.. no one believes me, so.. I can only sit back and watch as we all die..' _she thought, trying not to get her hopes up too high as she sat quietly and listened to what the Hanabusa daughter had to say.

The orange-haired girl let out a sigh, shaking her head. She remained oblivious to how much attention the younger girl was paying to her, and merely spoke for the sake of getting her point across. "Even _you _should know of the flaw in that theory."

The words seem to hit a nerve; strike Isuke's curiosity at the very least. She raised an eyebrow in question. "Hm? And what's that supposed to mean, exactly..?" she asked, sending a glare the other girls way. She didn't seem to mind the vicious behaviour in the least, and continued to innocently smile.

"For one; that your being even more hard-headed than usual, and two; there's a reason why that can't happen.. with my logic, in the very least, but you all should still agree." Growling from the other end of the room and thankful for the space between them, Isuke huffed, growing very annoyed at the girl's boasting and superior complex.

"Whatever. If you've got something to say, then hurry up and spit it out of that filthy mouth of yours." The sick insult earned a low roll of her eyes, before Sumireko actually began to do so without wasting any more time.

"What I'm trying to say is.. you should pay more attention to the facts, Inukai-san." she began, pushing a stray strand of hair from her face. "We established that the killer dropped Chitaru-san's keys in the cafeteria earlier this morning, did we not..? I recall that Hitsugi-san barely entered the cafeteria before we all filed out." Though she didn't want to admit it, she paused, waiting for if anyone else had any objections or points to bring up. When she received a reassuring silence, she smiled, glancing at the pink-haired female. "Now tell me, where in the world would she find time to place the keys there, if she only stepped a foot in the room, and the cafeteria is locked at night..?"

Isuke was aware of her defeat from the moment the other girl opened her mouth, but her pride said otherwise. Fists clenched tightly by her sides, her coloured nails had just begun digging into her skin as her teeth clenched together. It was difficult to contain the rage and annoyance she felt. Looking away with a huff, she rolled her eyes. "Fine. What if she gave them to someone else to plant it in the cafeteria for her? It's more than possible she could have done it then."

"Now you're just being ridiculous." The other retorted, earning an offended scowl from the other girl.

"Excuse me?"

"All of us were already in the cafeteria, and had been for quite the time before she got there- where would she find the time to give someone else the keys?"

At those words, the pink haired girl finally managed to give in, right after she realised how much time she was wasting on this small argument. Finally releasing her grip and letting her pale hands relax, she folded her arms in front of her chest. "...if you're going to sit here shooting down _my _logic, then I would _love _to hear who you think did it then, Ms I'm-a-genius."

Sumireko paused for a moment, before glancing back up at the other girl. "I myself am unsure of tha-"

"Ha! There, you have no reason to think your reasons are better than mine, then." The fact that she was interrupted by something so irrelevant only continued to agitate the orange-haired female. The rest of the group could only watch in silence, not a single one of them wanting to interfere with their argument. Who knows what would happen then.

"_I wasn't finished, Inukai-san." _she snapped with fierce eyes and an off-putting smile. "I'm not sure of that, however clearing suspicion on others using my sound logic is not as pointless as it may seem. With everything I say, we're growing closer to revealing the culprit, but with everything you say, we merely waste another precious moment of our lives to nonsense."

As soon as she heard Isuke beginning to growl underneath her breath, Haruki grew more and more tired of the situation at hand. Eyebrows scrunched on her face, she happened to send Nio a sympathetic glance through the dark atmosphere. Somehow, the blonde seemed to notice before she turned away, and gave a quiet, but nervous laugh in response.

"Whatever." Isuke dismissed, letting out a final, stressed huff of air before looking away. She wasn't about to admit her defeat out loud. With that, the discussion was finally able to get a move on, and relief swept over the rest of the awkward girls.

"...a-anyway.." Hitsugi urged. Those weren't the only words she wanted to say, of course, but she wasn't able to let out anything else. It wasn't the most appropriate time to start getting along with someone like Sumireko anyway, so she decided to keep her thanks for later. "I know.. I'm not the one responsible, so.. now.. what?"

"Um.. well, we still have to figure out who the killer is, without a doubt, so.. we can't stop conversing here." Shiena pointed out, frowning with crossed arms as she looked out amongst the group of assassins, save for one.

"As if that wasn't obvious enough as it is..." Kouko muttered under her breath, oblivious to the fact that the words were indeed heard by the brunette. She let out a small, 'tch' in annoyance, but she didn't seem to notice this either. "We have to think about who it possibly could have been then, taking into consideration the time slots and everyone's locations." she continued.

"That sounds like a fairly reasonable plan." Her former roommate stepped in, sending the other a friendly smile. "So then.. we all know that the killer must have been outside their room between 10:05 PM and a little after 10:20 PM, correct?"

"Wait. There isn't a possibility the killer still wandered around after that time?" Tokaku questioned, cupping her hand to her chin as she thought about every detail and word she received.

The other paused for a moment before shutting her mouth, lightly humming in thought, before she worked up a response. "I don't.. believe so." she began. "I'm sure I heard the locking door at the time of death, or at least, not much after it. If someone had gone outside after that, another noise would have been made, don't you think?"

The bluenette paused to comprehend everything with the facts she already knew. "...just making sure." was her short response, allowing the other to continue- that is, Suzu would have if someone else didn't end up stepping into the conversation.

"Who was outside in between those times, then..?" the brunette from earlier answered. Shiena seemed to be paying very close attention to the events around her, being critical with every statement and getting involved when she could- which, needless to say, wasn't very often unfortunately.

"Let's see.." Not wanting to go over the facts again, Suzu shot a glance towards Sumireko, who happened to get the message right away.

"I do believe.. I was already in my room, as was most of the others. The only person outside of their room at that time, and who doesn't have an alibi was.. _Mahiru-san."_

And at those words, everything seemed to stop for that one girl.

* * *

**A/N: I'm finally back with the next chapteeerrrr! :'D I'm sorry it took a while. School really sucks, you know? orz**

**Anyway, lucky for you all, the next chapter will be really interesting and awesome, and I've already started writing it, so.. hopefully it'll come out soon! :D**

**Catch you in the next one~**


	9. Chapter 09

**Chapter 09: Kill and Live- Not Normal Arc Part II**

* * *

**A/N: Oh my god. How long has it been since I updated this? Not a long time, I know, it just feels like it to me.**

**Enjoy the next chapter! Hopefully I can make the tenth can come out soon as well. Hang in there! ;v;**

* * *

The long-awaited, first Class Trial finally began, and although things were tense at first, the girls' discussion finally begins to make progress. After going through the facts they know, and paying attention to every detail, they come to a realisation.

That's when Mahiru became the prime suspect.

* * *

Mahiru blinked, suddenly feeling her heart pound in her chest which created a sickening dread within her stomach below. "W..What..?" she choked, feeling very uneasy in all the attention she was suddenly receiving. She wasn't able to speak up once more though, as the other girl got to it first.

"You were the only one outside of your room at that time.. and it's not like anyone else can prove you reached your room at 10:25 PM, as you say." Sumireko continued. Internally, her stomach churned in disapproval. She felt like she was betraying the innocent girl, and though she didn't want to believe or even accept it herself, she couldn't abandon her logic either. She could only hope that there was more to this case than it seemed.

"...B-But.. But I.." The words didn't seem to come out the way she wanted, too focused on the harsh pairs of eyes looking her way.

"It's true, huh...? No one here can prove at exactly what time Mahiru-san returned." Shiena pointed out, with a small frown. With every word that came from the discussion, the white-haired girl twisted uncomfortably in her stance. The nerves were almost unbearable by now.

"Eh.. Nope, I suppose not." Haruki chimed in, using her nonchalant tone as she placed her arms high behind her head. She didn't seem to be affected by the dark, thick atmosphere, though she never was to begin with. "And before any of you logical people mention it, those DVD's give anyone a motive to kill here. Considering Mahiru-san even spent a while in that AV room, that might say something.." she pointed out. _'Of all the people to mention those sick DVD's again, and it's me, huh?' _Though it brought about the images of her own personal video, she brushed it behind her carefree attitude and didn't give it thought.

"I-I..."

"Mahiru-san." Sumireko gently cut in, using her graceful aura to try and calm the panicking girl. Her worry was present on her face as she gazed directly at the other. "I would like you to tell us the _absolute truth. For the sake of all of us." _The other's words didn't seem to be calming her one bit, and her eyes only shook and widened even further. "Where were you, at 10:20 PM..?"

Mahiru froze. The memories were all so clear in her mind and the words were hanging on the tip of her tongue, but she couldn't bring herself to say them. She never thought doing something as simple as speak a few words- a basic human skill- could be so difficult, so stressful. Her wavering eyes fell to the floor in her panic, and she clasped at her trembling figure.

"I... was..." she began, slow and steady. Everyone in the room had their ears focused on the one figure in the room. They wanted to hear it directly from her mouth.

"Where were you...?" Sumireko calmly added. Her tone was strangely gentle, but the tension of the room only rose.

"...I was..." _'You know what to say, Mahiru..' _She repeated in her own head, shutting her eyes. _'C-Come on.. focus now... just say a few more words. Tell them, they need to know the truth...' _She didn't seem to be calming down. _'What would Shinya do right now...? You have to be strong for her now... now that you're on your own.'_

She took a sudden sharp intake of air, glancing over to the corner of her vision as the room fell completely and utter silent.

"..._I was in the AV room."_

And just like that, the silence and tension was cut into a million pieces- more pieces than a certain raven serial killer could manage to slice a human being into.

Things only seemed like they were calming down due to the dulled, less stressed expressions of the rest of the girls, but that wasn't the truth at all. What was going on in their heads was much more than 'relaxed', so few had the courage to even voice it. If Mahiru really, _really _was in the AV room, then that only complicated things further. If Mahiru was telling the truth, then-

"And you expect us to believe that?" The harsh, cold words of Kouko quickly gained unwanted attention her way, but she couldn't care less. From behind her glasses, she was glaring at the scarred female. She wasn't buying the story one bit, and no one could blame her for it.

"W...What..."

"Save yourself some trouble; don't speak." she cut in. Then, she suddenly raised her arm, pointing her finger straight at Mahiru. With a fierce expression adding to the intimidating image, the other girl jumped in her stand, shocked. "_Mahiru-san!" _she called from the other end of the circle, despite already having said girl's full attention. "You were the only one outside of your room, for when you passed by, everyone's doors were already locked. That being said, you were the only one capable of carrying out the deed."

The rest of the group was torn between sending questioning eyes at Mahiru, the victim here, or Kouko, who was raising up point after point against her. She only continued to do so mere seconds later, seeming to be quite sure of her accusations. "What's more," she began, gaze strangely fierce. "Is that by now, we're all aware that you were the one who mentioned the carpet burn resemblance. I'd say that's an extremely difficult thing to point out for any regular person, unless they were aware of it beforehand..."

With her usually shy nature, it was hard to tell whether Mahiru was trembling because she was suddenly on the spot and being exposed, or if it was just from the pressure. Never the less, Kouko's arguments sunk into everyone's minds the same, and suspicion was subsequently placed on the white-haired girl immediately.

"That's true..." Shiena agreed, arms folded before her chest.

"But hold on, that doesn't make sense." Sumireko cut in, before the rest of the room began being swayed by the other's reasoning.

"What about it doesn't? She fits all the criteria we've marked out, and no one else can." the girl immediately snapped back, almost as if a crack had been made in her emotionless mask. She wasn't the only one displaying a rare emotion however- the Hanabusa daughter was biting on the corner of her lip, almost as if she was unsure of what to say next.

Her confident tone masked this though, and her usual form returned with a shake of her head. "Wouldn't it be quite useless for the killer to reveal such information...? They'd only be pointing us in their direction, which would be ridiculous." Though the majority of the girls seemed to listen to this new point, Kouko still wasn't satisfied, and was quick to retort.

"The wound does indeed resemble a fabric burn, but do we even know if this is the complete truth? It could have just been my mere chance, and she's trying to lead us into the wrong direction. You don't have any proof of that, _do you?" _With the firmer the tone of the other got and the sudden feeling of defeat settling in, Sumireko glanced away, almost stunned.

"I... don't." was her casual response, narrowing her gaze off into the distance. It was then at that moment, when Mahiru noticed the other's vulnerable position and the lack of conversation drive. Before Kouko could even consider beginning to rant on and reason again, she cleared her throat weakly. It didn't seem to be enough to gain the rarely-wanted attention of the girls, however.

_'What would Shinya do at a time like this...?' _She cleared her throat louder, and swallowed her pride.

"_Hold it right there, will you?" _she suddenly spat through clenched teeth. It seemed her rare show of confidence and power was completely shattered as soon as everyone's confused eyes turned to her. Fragile aura returning, her body jolted, allowing her nerves to take over as she tried her best to continue. "U-Um...! Um... Ah... I have something t-to ask..."

No one seemed to interrupt her, so she just continued on. "A-About the weapon." Mahiru could have sworn that everyone was burning holes in her clothing with their eyes with the way they were gazing to intently at her. Speaking of burning.. "A... Assuming I'm the one responsible... What... would I even use against someone s-strong like Chitaru-san...? I wouldn't stand a chance, I-I wouldn't be able to even hit her head like that...!" she spat, sparking more thought and ideas in the rest of the audience. She had raised a fairly good point without realising it, yet again.

"The weapon..." Nio muttered under her breath, finally being able to enter the discussion like she wanted. "What _was _the weapon, anyway? Isn't it still missing?" And so, the question that was on everyone's minds was brought to light, open for anyone's opinion.

"Yes... that's correct. None of us encountered it at the scene, and it's not blatantly obvious _what _the weapon is, so we couldn't exactly search for it." Sumireko explained, taking full grasp of the reigns that controlled the discussion.

"Then... taking that into consideration too, Mahiru-san's raised a good point. What chance is there that she could stand against Chitaru-san with something made of fabric...?" Shiena critically questioned, seeming to spark thought in the other girls' heads.

"Can't we take one thing at a time?" Tokaku abruptly cut in, eyes shut in frustration. She hadn't spoken for the majority of the discussion, and the atmosphere seemed to thicken considerably as soon as she did so. "It'd make more sense to determine the weapon first, wouldn't it? We don't have time for false accusations and useless arguments."

At that point, Haru relaxed considerably beside the blue-haired girl. She opened her mouth to speak, but Tokaku immediately shot her a glare, causing her to slam her jaw shut. She knew she was in no position to argue with the warning sent her way, and remained quiet like she had been throughout the trial.

"Okay then, let's do that!" Otoya announced. For some reason, Monokuma didn't seem to mind the fact that she was twirling a pair of scissors on each hand while standing in the room, and did nothing to stop her. "I mean, this 'weapon' barely counts as a weapon since it's probably made of that fabric and it doesn't have a blade or anything, but oh well." she brushed off, wearing that deceiving, innocent smile.

"Whatever it is, it's still a weapon, nonetheless." Nio corrected, looking the killer's way. "Anything can be used as a weapon if it's used incorrectly- or in our cases, correctly."

"That doesn't get us any closer to answering our question here, though." Tokaku quickly added once more. She seemed to be planning on getting the discussion rolling and ending the trial as quickly as possible, which was a reasonable approach.

"Indeed. What _was _the weapon used?" Isuke added across the room, with folded arms and her held up high. The conversation seemed to be growing lively with each new participant, and with all of their twisted and unique logic, they were bound to be heading somewhere.

"There are a fair number of possibilities at this stage." The orange-haired girl from earlier stated, seeming to be growing a new rival already. Anyone who thought they were higher than the self-proclaimed queen would become one, anyway. "We can only assume the weapon has either been disposed of, hidden somewhere we haven't checked, or they're carrying it with them."

"How do we go about finding out which one of those the killer resulted to...?" Suzu asked, tilting her head in a questioning, open manner. The other gave a sigh.

"Though I'm honoured in the fact that you're asking me, I cannot give you an answer." The other responded.

_'I wasn't asking you directly, but as you say...' _The bluenette thought in response, but she decided to hold her tongue. Giving this rich girl another enemy to watch out for would only turn out horribly.

"Does anyone have any ideas?" The cat-mouthed blonde questioned. From the silence though, it was easy to tell that all of the girls in the room had virtually no ideas. What remained in their heads were only loads and loads of questions- ones that would have to be answered by the end of this trial. At this pace, they knew they weren't going to reach it anytime soon, though. "No? What a shame." she continued, shaking her head in disappointment.

"Hm? You saying you've got a better idea yourself, Nio-san?" The response couldn't help intriguing Haruki somehow, and so she decided to question it, leaving on hand on her hip. The other limb was running through her red hair in smooth motions to pass the time. It was relaxing compared to all the hard, non-stop thinking she had been going through.

"Nope, I don't believe so. Don't have _that _much faith in me, Haruki-san..." was the clumsy response she received, along with a light-hearted laugh. At this, the red head merely dropped her line of questioning and returned to being part of the audience in this discussion.

"Right.." she responded through a sigh.

"Back on topic, if you please." Kouko's firm, emotionless voice had returned and shook through the courtroom once again, leaving no room for argument or protest from the group of females. "At this point, I don't think it's possible to determine the weapon. However, the culprit still stands clear as day, and that's all that matters."

"...not satisfied." were the sudden words that left Hitsugi's mouth in a whisper, earning all kinds of confused and blank looks her way. With a shadow looming over her vision, she stared at the stand right before her. To have her silence broken just like that, out of nowhere was somewhat of an achievement.

"Excuse... me?" The raven responded, tipping her head as much as her glasses would allow her to.

"...I said I'm not satisfied." she continued, tone growing louder and louder with the more she spoke. "If you want me and the rest of us, to believe you, you're going to have to show some proof. Solid proof. You have to make your theories air-tight." By that point, she almost sounded like she was demanding answers from the other girl.

That's how she felt, at least. When the one you lived with and for has disappeared, what else can you do but feel lost? All she wanted to do was get to the bottom of this case for Chitaru- and she would make sure to never forgive the person responsible for being the one to take her away.

"If you want to make an accusation like that, then she's right." Tokaku agreed from across the room, sparing a small glance at the shorter bluenette. "You'll need to present us with every detail and evidence explaining it, which includes the weapon used- something even _you _just stated was impossible, Kouko-san."

The words seemed to offend the targetted girl, as she held back a scoff. "What...? Where is this even-"

"Oh, and if you're going to bother saying, 'its only to promote discussion', then let me interrupt you here." The other paused, gulping as she waited for the Azuma descendant to continue on, hiding the rising urge to kill her at that very moment. "Don't be so damn sure of yourself if you've still got doubts."

Almost as if she was taking a note of the words, Kouko froze for a few moments before she shielded her face from view by placing a hand to the front of her glasses' rim. She held it in place, unmoving as she glanced to the side, frown intensifying. "...I don't need to hear that from you, _Azuma." _she spat.

"It wouldn't have made any difference if you heard it from anyone else." she reasoned, closing her eyes as she kept her calm composure in check. This sight only caused Kouko's grudge for the other girl to double over, teeth becoming visible in a fierce frown. She couldn't shut her mouth for once, could she?

She let out an inaudible growl under her breath before she felt she finally reached her limit. _"Look, I've got my owns reasons for things, and I know that it was Mahiru who-!"_

"Let's take things one step at a time, shall we?" Haruki stepped in. She was probably siding with everyone when she said she didn't want a fight or argument to break out just now, or at least, in the middle of such a trial. None of them knew how much time they had spent there exactly, but they still couldn't afford to waste any more time.

Seeing her defeat and a chance to collect herself again, Kouko immediately took it, letting out a deep breath. "...I have to do this, or else..." she muttered to herself, keeping it to a mere whisper. Even Suzu, who was standing right beside her, didn't quite hear her words, looking at her pre-roommate with a questioning gaze.

The bluenette let out a hum of curiosity, and although the other heard, she ignored it. Head held high, the raven cleared her throat. "Right... apologies." was what she stated when she raised her voice, face and tone void of emotion once more.

As for the Azuma across the room, nothing seemed to be bothering her at all. With her arms folded in front of her chest and her eyelids closed, she let out a relaxed sigh. Overall, she had a very contained composure, but that was to be expected.

Hitsugi however couldn't really express the gratitude she felt for the other stepping in, as the emotion was shadowed by the other thoughts assaulting her body. The misery, the shock, the disbelief and pain- all of it, combined with the sickening feeling of nerves in her stomach took over her brain. She couldn't focus on anything but those, and since Chitaru was gone, she didn't have anyone to tell her otherwise.

Haruki blinked. The room had gone silent just like that, and she felt quite awkward. Weren't they supposed to keep arguing- err, discussing, or something by this point? The way the silence dragged on really made her feel uncomfortable, especially with how she didn't have anything to say herself. "U-Um..." she began, eyes darting around the room. "Okay... aren't you supposed to... get back to conversing or something, by now?" she pushed, adding a nervous laugh.

What made things worse for the red head was the fact that there was a long pause between her words and the response she received. "...yes, we'll get to that." Kouko bluntly stated. Just like everyone else, she seemed to be deep in thought, only taking a pause to respond to the girl across the room.

Before Haruki could get another word in or even react however, another assassin happened to. "Some of us are actually doing some thinking, unlike you, Haruki.~" And just like that, with her usual teasing tone, Isuke breathed a sigh and an insult to the other girl. To be honest, the other didn't really mind, either.

"Eh? You really don't have faith in me at all, do you, Isuke-sama?" The pink-haired girl shot a glance at the other, before focusing her attention on her nails.

"Am I suppose to?"

"Alright, enough chit-chat." Sumireko abruptly cut in, in a somewhat inconvenient, terrible time.

_'I only said, like... one thing. You were the ones who weren't talking, so can you really complain...?' _Haruki sighed, shaking her head with a smile. _'..I'll never understand these guys, even if I tried.' _

"Now, back on topic, please." the girl continued, looking over amongst the rest of the group- or rather, looking down on the rest of the group. "Kouko-san, I would like to ask you a few things before we continue. Hopefully, to prove your theory, you'll cooperate?"

For some reason, the harsh glare combined with a friendly smile that the orange-haired girl was sending Kouko's way seemed quite intimidating and demanding. Without any other choice, in order to possibly save her threatened life and prove her accusation, she nodded her head. "If that's what's necessary, then ask away."

"Perfect." she continued, as the innocence of her smile took over her face. "Then, in that case, lets think of things hypothetically. If you please, map out exactly what you think happened that night, including the appropriate time slots and activities each of us went through." Though it was a big ask, and the silence of the room had realised this, the raven was willing to do almost anything to prove herself. There was no backing out now; not when she was so sure of herself.

"...alright..." Glare of the lights falling over her glasses, the girl sat in thought, planning out everything in her head. Organising everything to the point where one could explain it out loud was a difficult task, and required concentration, which was thoughtfully allowed by the rest of the girls. None of them complained or even whispered a word as they waited, all on the edge of their stands in anticipation.

This was a trial of their lives- why wouldn't they be?

* * *

**A/N: Like usual, don't be afraid to leave a review of your thoughts or suspicions on this case! I love hearing your responses, and it'll only take a few seconds of your time~**

**But if you don't want to, that's okay too. ;v;**

**I'll see you in the next one~**


End file.
